OPINION> EDITORIALS
In deep waters
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-30 08:08

It is good to know that the 91 billion yuan earmarked for cleaning up the "three rivers and three lakes" has resulted in "certain effects." Or, we would be even more curious about the way the costly, protracted, and most of the time high-profile project has been carried out.

The Liaohe, Haihe and Huaihe rivers as well as the Taihu, Chaohu and Dianchi lakes were first highlighted in our national pollution treatment scheme in the Ninth Five-Year Plan period (1996-2000). Now, we are in the 11th.

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Still the National Audit Office found that the water quality there continues to be poor. Given the data cited in the audit report, things are hardly better than they were prior to the high-profile cleanup.

Of course that does not mean the 91 billion yuan spent over three five-year plans was to no avail. Things would certainly be much worse were it not for the inputs and fanfare over the years.

In deep waters

Repairing damaged water bodies entails both time and financial commitment. Three five-year plans and 91 billion yuan may not suffice to bring back the once clear water in the six rivers and lakes. Still, they should have produced better outcomes.

We do care about the way public money was spent. And there were reasons for concern: More than 4 billion yuan that should have been used for pollution control has been used for other purposes, or not even collected. And some expensive pollution monitoring and treatment facilities were found lying idle, seriously compromising our sympathy for local environmental officials who have been complaining about lack of financial resources.

More worrisome than the waste and abuse in this specific program, however, is the de facto dysfunction of major environmental policies. We were all excited when the national environmental authorities stipulated that all major industrial projects must first have their environmental impacts assessed. That indeed sounded like a prescription to get to the root of the issue.

But the eye-pleasing flower does not bear fruit in the real world. For one thing, existing laws and government decrees do not support it. Except for those in a very small number of very special businesses, such as dangerous materials, entertainment, the majority of industries are not covered at all. As a result, the rule that inspires sky-high hopes ends up becoming toothless before such notorious polluters as chemical plants and paper mills.

The audit report gave a number of reasons for the disappointing conditions of the six rivers and lakes. But the inherent mismatch between government policies and corresponding laws is their own antithesis.

A lot is waiting to be done. But first and foremost, the obstacle has to be removed.

(China Daily 10/30/2009 page8)