Illegal construction villas targeted by central government

The central government has sent a group to rectify problems of illegal villa construction at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi province and vowed to hold accountable anyone found violating laws and regulations.

Xu Lingyi, deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, is heading the team, and dismantling of the villas started on Monday.

Qinling Mountains, a major west-east mountain range in southern Shaanxi province, supports a huge variety of plants and wildlife. Many unapproved villas have been built on its northern side since 1997, occupying farms and forests, and causing pollution, according to the CCDI website.

A campaign to rectify the problem had been launched in 2014, with 202 illegally built villas dismantled or confiscated, and 110 people given disciplinary or administrative punishment. Yet a recent investigation has found that the problem of illegally built villas has emerged again.

Some of the illegal real estate projects under construction began in the past three to four years, according to People's Daily, citing Xu, who addressed a meeting in Shaanxi on Monday.

Local officials saw the illegal projects appearing again but failed to investigate and report the problem in a timely manner to higher authorities, he said.

"Efforts should be made to find the reasons behind the problem and carry out a comprehensive, thorough rectification," he said.

Hu Heping, Party secretary of the province, said the problems revealed the provincial leadership's failure to attach priority to the environmental issues of the Qinling Mountains and the corruption hidden behind the illegal villa projects.

He vowed that the province will carry out a thorough investigation and address the problem, and anyone found violating laws or discipline rules will receive severe punishment.