OPINION> Commentary
Indoor beach waste of water
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-10 07:49

Tianjin government should stop building the world's largest indoor sand beach and put the money into people's livelihoods, says an article in Workers' Daily. The following is an excerpt:

According to reports, Tianjin will officially kick off the construction of a 30-billion-yuan Guangang amusement park this March. Readers have been irritated by the news, largely because the park will include an indoor sand beach 300 m long and 120 m wide, the largest of its kind in the world.

Obviously, this water-consuming project goes against the spirit of fighting the severe drought experienced by many Chinese provinces now. The drought has posed a great threat to wheat production and the Ministry of Agriculture has already launched its highest-level contingency measures against drought.

There is no problem with the government beautifying urban landscapes and building highlights for the city, but the problem is that the government shouldn't spend so much money in a purely recreational project at a time when the country is still hit by the financial woes.

What's more, Tianjin should have known better about the value of saving water than others as it lies in a region severely short of rainfall.

The city planner and managers should care more about the needs of common people instead of only thinking about building large projects showcasing their prominent achievements.

(China Daily 02/10/2009 page8)