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Relief aid to be closely monitored for fraud

By Xie Yu (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-21 07:36

Auditors will track funds donated to rebuild Yushu

Beijing - The National Audit Office (NAO) has vowed to strengthen its supervision of aid in Yushu, after it claimed back 300 million yuan ($44 million) of misappropriated funds that had been allocated for reconstruction in Sichuan province, which was hit by an 8.0 magnitude quake in 2008.

After a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit Yushu in Northwest China's Qinghai province, the central government has sent officials from audit and finance departments to work with the civil affairs authorities to supervise the allocation of relief funds.

He Guoqiang, head of the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, on Monday called for increased supervision of relief funds and materials. "We should learn from experiences after the Wenchuan earthquake and strengthen the supervision of quake relief work in Yushu," he said.

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The commission also issued a notice last week, urging discipline watchdogs and supervisory departments to reinforce the monitoring of the disaster relief funds and materials. Graft, false reports, and misappropriation should be severely punished, the notice said.

China's disaster relief authority promised on Sunday that details of how donations to quake victims in Qinghai province are used will be publicized on a regular basis, to boost efficiency and transparency.

Liu Jiayi, head of the NAO, arrived in Yushu on Sunday and urged auditors to closely monitor how donations from people and the government are put in the relief work.

Tracking public donations and government funds for reconstruction has been effectively used in the Sichuan quake. The NAO's audit has saved more than 2.8 billion yuan through economization and the recovery of losses, recouping 300 million yuan of misappropriated funds, the Beijing News reported on Monday.

For example, the largest instance of misappropriation took place in Mianyang city last September. A special fund of 140 million yuan earmarked for road reconstruction, linking Mianyang and the former Beichuan county, epicenter of the 2008 earthquake, was allocated to construct a new urban area in south Mianyang.

The misappropriated funds were returned after the NAO requested that a correction be made.

School buildings in Pengzhou city, which fell short of national safety standards, were also brought in line with safety requirements after the NAO raised the issue.

To date, the use of auditors to track reconstruction projects in Sichuan province resulted in more than 2,500 projects having their construction and management improved, the quality of another 200 projects was raised and 22 people were penalized for the misuse of funds, according to the NAO.

CHINA DAILY

(China Daily 04/21/2010 page4)