Spending on roads must be made public

AN INVESTIGATION into renovation work on National Highway 321 in Zhaoqing, Guangdong province in South China, has resulted in 12 local officials being disciplined and seven construction companies fined. The work cost 326 million yuan ($50 million), yet some of the renovated highways proved even worse than before in terms of quality. Beijing Times commented on Thursday:

According to a probe by the municipal commission for discipline, inspection and supervision, regulatory responsibilities for the project were not in place.

People are most concerned about the changes to the planned renovations and have criticized the cutting of corners, layers of subcontractors, and corruption issues which are not mentioned in the investigation results.