Nearly 6,000 officials are held accountable on results of environmental inspections

Almaty. September 19. Silkroadnews – Nearly 6,000 officials are held accountable on results of environmental inspections, China Daily reported.
“A total of 5,763 officials have been held accountable for inadequate environmental protection in the latest round of national inspections, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection,” the report states.
Eight environmental inspection teams delegated by the central authorities inspected work of local authorities in Jilin, Zhejiang, Shandong, Hainan, Sichuan, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Tibet from August to September of this year.
Reportedly, during the checks, the teams received a staggering number of complaints - 59,848. After sorting out and recording duplicate complaints, this number was reduced to 39,586 resulted in further investigations. As of September 15, when the inspections were completed, local authorities had examined 35,039 cases, which is 88.5% of the total number of cases, and imposed fines totaling 465.8 million yuan (about $71.1 million).
According to the publication, the inspections are a part of China’s campaign to combat environmental pollution. Inspectors monitor important environmental issues, state of environment on the ground and reveal violations.