Chewing gum droppers on Tian'anmen Square in the center of Beijing risk a 20 to 50 yuan (US$2.4 to 6) fine from municipal authorities beginning Thursday, said a source with the square management committee.
The committee will work together with the municipality management sectors from Beijing's eastern district to enforce the new gum law on the 400,000-square-meter-square.
Nearly 1,000 people have been working to remove 600,000 wads of chewing gum carelessly discarded by residents and visitors to the Tian'anmen Square. Beginning earlier this month, the clean-up has cost one million yuan (US$120,000).
However, new wads of discarded chewing gum re-appeared just days after the square was finally clean.
Littering in public places, such as the discarding of chewing gum, is banned in Beijing and offenders can be fined 20 to 50 yuan, according to Regulations on the Management of City Appearance and Environmental Sanitation in Beijing Municipality, which came into effect this October.
Lying at the heart of Beijing and facing the imperial palace of the Forbidden City, Tian'anmen Square is cited as a symbol of the Chinese capital and one of its main solemn sites of cultural and historical interest and scenic attractions.
(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2002)
|
