|
China’s Party officials to be gauged on performances in snow relief
BEIJING—The performance of
Party officials in China’s snow disaster relief and restoration work
will be scored and used as gauges for future promotion or dismissal of
public posts, said a newly-issued circular.
The snow storms have posed a challenging test against the whole nation,
but also lends itself to showcasing Party officials’ management and
ruling capacities, said the circular issued by the Organization
Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. It
said Party officials in snow-stricken areas will be scored for their
performances in the disaster relief and restoration work. Their
performances will be taken into consideration in future promotion or
dismissal of their posts.
“Any Party official who derelicts his duties, or leaves his posts
without permission during the snow storms will be severely punished,” it
stressed. The circular urged all Party members to devote themselves to
normalizing life and production in snow-hit provinces as early as
possible. The prolonged low temperatures, icy rain and heavy snow in the
central and southern parts of China have so far left 107 people dead and
eight missing. It has caused direct economic loss estimated at 111.1
billion yuan (about 15.4 billion U.S. dollars).
In all, 21 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have been
affected. About 1.5 million people have been relocated, and 1.93 million
were left stranded before finding transport. The freak weather affected
almost 24.4 million hectares of farmland and 18.6 million hectares of
forests, leading to the collapse of about 354,000 houses.
The Chinese government has extended the highway toll exemptions for
trucks carrying food to help snow disaster relief work and
reconstruction in areas affected by the severe winter weather of the
last month, the Ministry of Communications has announced. A notice on
the ministry’s website says the “green channel” service, which allows
vehicles carrying agricultural products toll-free of seven major
arteries, will be extended until March 31. The highways include the
north-south Yinchuan-Kunming, Hohhot-Nanning, Beijing-Haikou, Harbin-Haikou
and Shanghai-Haikou routes.—Xinhua |
