generalspeaking

Neglect and Tragedy

"My first reaction was a feeling of heartsickness, because we were in charge of monitoring this project. Then I felt shock and grief."
"Usually the monitoring entity should be in place when the first tier of a disposal site is compacted. When we entered, they'd already filled in to the fifth tier."
"By late November, we had found it had problems with stability, removal of obstructions, compactness and elevation."
Bian Yuxiang, senior construction engineer, Shenzhen J-Star Project Management Consultants

It was meant to be a temporary project, a dump in Shenzhen, China. Local authorities in the municipality had contracted with Long Huamei's Shenzhen Yixianlong Investment Development Company to operate the dump. This was a company whose professional focus was primarily for projects such as garden design, street cleaning and waste disposal. But it thought the the dump project in Hong'ao Village on Shenzhen's outskirts represented an opportunity to make a profit.

Oversight of the project was in the hands of the district urban management bureau. It was assigned there since the dump was considered to represent a transitional project, not a permanent project requiring more stringent checks and oversight. The bureau itself was engaged in minor issues such as illegal parking and litter. They had a casual hands-off attitude, feeling the situation well looked after by the contracted firm.



And then Shenzhen Yixianglong Investment decided to contract out the dump project to a local company, Shenzhen Luei Property Management. Both companies more or less ignored approval rules, safety warnings and the complaints of nearby residents that the dump was unstable. There was also an engineering firm attached to the project, engaged to monitor work associated with it. And that engineering firm, Shenzhen J-Star, warned for months of the risks related to the  Hong'ao Construction Waste Dump project.

Once they began working on the project in September, J-Star cited problems that had bypassed inspection; cracked drainage and other risks. The urban administration bureau appeared disinterested. In mid-December, a J-Star official reviewed his firm's concerns at a meeting with representatives of Yixianglong Investment along with officials from the urban management bureau as well as an earlier engineering consultant company, where agreement was reached to suspend dump operations.

The dump as a temporary measure took advantage of the presence of a quarry situated on a hill overlooking the village. That quarry looked temptingly like a solution to the problem of rapid growth leading to massive construction waste requiring to be placed somewhere. Residents and workers located nearby were concerned that the growing mound was unstable. "It began to rise slowly, but then it began to grow faster", observed Zhang Guisheng, a factory worker.

Finally, another emergency meeting was struck when all those concerned discussed the safety concerns and it was agreed that no more waste should be piled onto the existing site. The matter seemed settled, if only temporarily so. But instead of being settled, it had just been set aside, and the dump trucks kept arriving with the construction loads. Four days after the meeting that resulted in the agreement to suspend operations, the unstable dump piled with construction waste gave way.

Rescue efforts underway at the industrial park in northern Shenzhen. Photograph from the Shenzhen Fire Department’s official Weibo.

A massive landslide of debris collapsed and 69 people were killed, on 20 December. It was a dreadful disaster that could and should have been averted. An investigation was launched by the government. "The local government knew what was going on, because people complained", an exasperated Mr. Zhang noted. "Nothing happened." Well, nothing happened to ensure that safety was uppermost in concern, but now that 69 people have died and buildings in the path of the landslide were destroyed, action has been taken.

Long Huamei of Yixianglong is in police custody and so are another two dozen managers and officials. The Shenzhen police on January 15 stated that Zhang Juru, executive director of Luwei had been arrested, while six others had made themselves scarce. A more traditional note of self-reproach was struck when Xu Yuan'an, head of the district urban management bureau that approved the dump, committed suicide.

Labels: Catastrophe, China, Corruption, Environment, Social Welfare

posted by Pieface @ Sunday, January 24, 2016