Choking dust and
deafening noise common in many construction sites in China are
seldom seen or heard in the construction site of the Longtan
Hydroelectric Power Station in south China's Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The good environment is
a result of huge investments in environmental protection and the
efforts of environmental supervisors who monitor the work, said Lou
Ping, an official with the supervision department of the State
Environmental Protection Administration.
So far, 240 million yuan
(US$29 million) has been invested in environmental protection
during the construction of the station, the second largest
hydroelectric project in the country following the Three Gorges
Power Project on the Yangtze River.
Environmental
supervisors are engaged in monitoring the construction site, and
deal with sewage treatment, disposal of solid wastes, noise control
and water and soil protection.
Besides Longtan, another
13 key projects, including the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and the
South-North Water Diversion projects, have introduced similar
systems to prevent environmental problems.
The trial began last
year and the administration is planning to spread the effort to
other areas.
Lou noted that in the
past, there was no supervisor to monitor environmental problems,
just random checks by the environmental protection
department.
(China Daily October 7,
2003)