OPINION> Commentary
Put a stop to 'image projects'
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-08 07:39

Officials' obsession with "image projects" needs to be put down, says an article in Guangzhou Daily. An excerpt follows:

On Monday, a Three Gorges sightseeing tower worth 35 million yuan in Wanzhou, Chongqing, exploded into debris. With the collapse of the long-claimed local image project the huge amount of taxpayers' money also evaporated.

It is not unusual that many image projects throughout the country have been under criticism because of bad designs or their failure to yield expected economic returns. However, that does not seem to be enough to stop such projects being erected one after another because they are thought to be the overpowering local symbol or a show of local officials' achievements. A typical case is the launching of an expensive monument in Huai'an, Jiangsu province, last August to mark the country's south-north geographic demarcation in defiance of public opinion.

The dismantling of some ill-conceived projects in the past years, however, has not completely eliminated some local officials' fancy for image projects. The government should put in place a system to hold into account those responsible for the enormous losses caused by unscientific decision-making. Also, a new performance assessment mechanism is needed in the promotion of officials, instead of the old one that allows room for cheating by a show of superficial achievements. Only this can put a stop to some officials' obsession with image projects.

(China Daily 01/08/2009 page8)