Chinese government agencies have returned 4.16 billion yuan
(US$520 million) in misappropriated funds, announced China's
National Audit Office (CNAO) in Beijing Wednesday.
According to the announcement the government departments
involved have also turned over 1.18 billion yuan (US$147.07
million) to the central budget and reallocated 11.76 billion yuan
(US$1.47 billion). For example, the 2.4 billion yuan credit balance
for 10 water conservancy construction projects which included
harnessing the lower reaches of the Yellow River had been left
untouched for a long period of time. Now the majority of the
funding has been returned and is being used for the
projects.?
One hundred and fourteen cases of suspected malpractice were
discovered during the 2004 audit leading to the punishment of 213
of those involved and the arrest, indictment and sentencing of 76
officials.
Ten of the 12 departments accused of falsifying budget reports
had transferred 390 million yuan (US$48.75 million) in over claimed
expenses to the following year's budget.
Of the 26 central government departments that misappropriated
1.07 billion yuan (US$133.36 million) in 2004, 23 had made refunds
involving 873 million yuan (US$108.81million).
The Ministry of Finance has pledged to promote budget management
reform.
Water project funding mismanaged
Large amounts of construction funding for China's water
conservation projects have been mismanaged an audit report
states.
It says CNAO audited management and use of 71.6 billion yuan
(US$8.9 billion) of construction funds for China's water
conservation projects from 2002 through 2003 which accounted for 77
percent of the total construction funds available for such work
during that time.?
The audit, carried out in 2004, revealed that more than 3.5
billion yuan (US$437.5 million) of funds had been retained for no
sound reason and nearly 1.4 billion yuan (US$175 million) had been
used improperly.
The report says nearly?one billion yuan (US$125 million)
had been used for purposes other than water conservation projects.
This included building hotels and giving subsidies and bonuses to
staff on some projects.
Qinghai-Tibet railway -- environmental audit
result
CNAO also released the full results of its audit on the use of
funds for implementation of environmental protection along the
Qinghai-
Tibet railway on www.gov.cn.
The audit was based on an investment plan to build the
Qinghai-Tibet railway, issued by the State Development and Reform
Commission and the Qinghai-Tibet railway environmental impact
evaluation report which was adopted by the State Environmental
Protection Administration and the Ministry of Water Resources.
In order to reduce the negative impact of the railway
construction on wildlife 33 passageways were built for animals to
cross the railway. By June 2005 all the passageways had been
completed. Auditors assessed four of these passageways and
concluded that the construction quality met the required technical
standards.
According to observations by the Institute of Zoology of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences, in 2003, more than 400 antelopes came to Hoh Xil via these passageways
and reproduced. This figure increased to more than 1,500 in 2005.
Before antelopes would take several days to cross the railway line
but now they could do it within an hour.
"All the facts prove that the antelopes have adapted to the
existence of the railway," the bulletin said.
In a bid to ensure the solidity of the railway in frozen areas,
more bridges were built. Auditors found that all these had been
completed to a high standard by June 2005, the bulletin noted.
It also stated that the government planned to spend 1.54 billion
yuan (US$193 million) on environmental protection along the
Qinghai-Tibet railway which accounted for 4.6 percent of the total
railway investment. By June 2005, 1.45 billion yuan (US$181
million) of investment had been utilized and no problems were
discovered by auditors in the use of funds.
Construction on the Qinghai-Tibet railway, from Golmud to Lhasa,
started in June 2001 and stretches 1,142 kilometers.
(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2006)