18 officials to face trial over deadly landslide in N China

TAIYUAN, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Two courts in Shanxi Province will soon begin the trial of 18 officials for their role in a fatal landslide that killed at least 277 people last year, the provincial procuratorate said Monday.

The Linfen municipal procuratorate and the Xiangfen county procuratorate have respectively transferred the investigation files of the suspects to the corresponding courts as of last Monday, applying for court hearings over charges of dereliction of duty, taking bribes and misuse of power.

The suspects include Sang Haiming, former deputy director of the provincial administration of land and resources; Wang Youshun, former head of the Linfen municipal work safety supervision administration; deputy head of Xiangfen County; and some other officials with the municipal, county and village-level authorities.

The Linfen municipal intermediate people's court and the Xiangfen county court are studying the cases and will announce the date of the court hearings soon.

The collapse of an unlicensed iron ore dreg-retaining pond triggered a massive landslide on Sept. 8 in Xiangfen county, Linfen city of the coal-rich Shanxi. The torrent of mud and mining waste buried an outdoor market near a village of more than 1,000 residents.

At least 277 people were killed and four other remain missing.

Investigations found the collapse was due to negligence. The dumping pond was built in violation of a regulation and had almost no safety inspections.

China has meted out punishment to 113 people held responsible for the accident. Among the total, 51 were transferred to judicial organs for criminal charges and 62 received disciplinary penalties.

The local judicial authorities will gradually deal with the rest of the officials separately from the 18 held responsible for the accident as each case requires much time for investigation.

Four workers die after scaffold collapses in Shanghai

SHANGHAI, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Four workers died Sunday after a scaffold collapsed at a construction site in Shanghai, local authorities said.

The accident occurred at about 4:07 p.m. when workers were renovating an elevator hoist way in a building at an electric company in the Xuhui District, said a spokesman with the Shanghai Municipal Work Safety Administration.

The four people were working at the fifth floor and plummeted to the ground after the collapse, the spokesman said.

They were rushed to the Shanghai Municipal No. 6 People's Hospital but died after emergency treatment, he said.

The cause of the collapse is being investigated.

Beijing municipal gov't trims travel on public funds

BEIJING, April7 -- Officials who hope to take a little trip this year will find there's been a cut in the budget.

Government spending on trips will be cut 20 percent this year in an effort to crack down on officials spending public money on sightseeing tours overseas, a notice on the Beijing municipal government's website said.

"Party and government officials must not misuse public funds for overseas tours and must not demand any subsidy or financial assistance from any institution or enterprise," the authorities said.

The municipal government singled out the use of fake letters sent by bogus overseas groups inviting officials on personal trips at public expense and said no reimbursement would be given in those situations.

The Chinese media have reported a string of scandals involving officials going on overseas trips, spending their time shopping and sightseeing with public funds.

In August 2007, Xu Wen'ai, vice-procurator-general of Anhui province, was removed from his post for wasting public funds on a trip to Finland.

A delegation of 10 people from the procuratorate headed by Xu was found to have fabricated an invitation from the Finnish government.

Ren Jin, a professor with the National School of Administration, said the efforts could significantly curb violations.

"But the same monitoring and restrictions should be applied to the domestic trips, which sometimes cost much more than overseas tours," Ren said.

In a recent case, villagers from Xinzhung village of the capital's Fengtai district tried to prevent village officials from leaving town when they learned the officials were heading to Guangxi for sightseeing tours, the Beijing News reported.

Villagers failed to block the buses and the officials successfully made the journey, which they explained as "a trip to study and learn how other villages get wealthy". Authorities are investigating the case.

The latest move by the Beijing municipality follows a similar nationwide campaign, jointly announced by the Ministry of Finance.

China banned nearly 4,000 people from attending more than 550 overseas group trips on public expense during the May-November period last year, Xinhua reported earlier.

Now overseas trips for Beijing officials will have to adhere to a strict schedule, with finance departments working out annual budgets.

The departments involved in sending officials on trips should thoroughly inspect the bills submitted by officials and report claims to the municipal finance bureau for approval before reimbursing anyone.

(Source: China Daily)