Authorities are investigating complaints from residents of a rural county in Hubei Province who are angry over government claims that their 10-year-old debts can't be repaid even though officials are driving around in expensive cars.

Local governments in Xishui County have failed to pay back 15.8 million yuan owed to contractors and workers who were hired to improve river embankments across the county from 1996 to 1998 so they could pass inspection, according to a report by China Central Television, citing the county's deputy chief, Zheng Ning.

Many contractors took out bank loans to fund the project only to be left with IOUs that have still not been repaid, the report said. The township and village committees that ordered the work say they don't have the money to reimburse the construction debts.

As a result, pawnshops in the central China county are doing a booming trade in government-issued chits. Some hard-pressed contractors and workers have pawned the certificates at 20 to 40 percent of their face value.

One small pawnshop alone bought government IOUs totaling more than 1 million yuan in the past year.

Villager Yang Xixiang said her contractor husband, Zhang Hanquan, dared not stay home during recent Spring Festivals - a traditional time for family reunions - to avoid people pressing him for the hundreds of thousands of yuan in debt he's accumulated.

Yang, in her 50s, earns about 2 yuan for each pair of shoes she polishes on the downtown streets. She said poverty forced her younger daughter to quit high school, and she doesn't even have enough money to send the girl to look for a job in the city.

Yang's other daughter dropped out of school long ago and is now a migrant worker.

Yang said the family sold some of its government-issued IOUs but is still holding onto certificates worth 100,000 yuan, which she hopes to cash in one day.

Despite protestations that the construction debts can't be repaid for lack of funds, many top county officials are driving around in 200,000-yuan Buick Regals, CCTV found. Half of the purchase price came from government coffers, and the balance was paid by the officials after selling their older cars, Deputy Chief Zheng said.

Local regulations, however, require a car to be shared by three county-level officials.

(Shanghai Daily February 22, 2006)