Spending on roads must be made public

Vehicles warit at the Langdong Tollgate on the Guiin-Beihai Highway in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, earlier this month. [Photo/Xinhua]

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.

In fact, Guangdong is known for the most notorious "demonstration project". The Foshan Expressway scandal three years ago, which saw 30 governmental officials removed from their posts for corruption in the building of 24.3 kilometers of the expressway.

The investigation by the local supervision departments into the work on National Highway 321 again found corruption.

Such projects need to be transparent and provide accurate billing, so that people can see everything is above board. Otherwise even if no corruption occurs, people will harbor suspicions.