The improvement of city appearance and sanitation management of Beijing is expected soon to be backed by legislation created by the standing committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress (BMPC). The move comes following feedback from local residents on the issue of draft regulation on the topics.
Additionally, public consultation during the construction of Olympic Games venues has been listed as a priority. This will ensure high-level efficiency and integrity as part of a revision of the draft of Beijing's municipal regulation on public bidding and tender.
The two revisions were debated yesterday at a regular conference of the BMPC's standing committee and will be put to the vote tomorrow following further revision.
Graffitti vandals or illegal bill posting will be met by fines of between 100 yuan and 10,000 yuan (US$12-US$1,210), according to the revision, which has increased the original draft penalty.
The draft cancelled a section covering the disconnection of mobile phones or pagers if the numbers are scrawled on buildings and other structures, given the communication rights prescribed by the Constitution, according to Zhang Zhijian, vice-director of the BMPC Commission of Legal System.
Illegal bill posting and advertising, illegal private medical practice and the falsification of ID cards and public seals have become a headache for the capital in recent years.
A specially established team to clean off graffiti has removed millions of daubings since 1994 but the problem still continues.
"Although the municipal government has increased its efforts to remove illegal advertising, short-term campaigns can not achieve success," said Dong Zhiwei, committeeman of BMPC.
Dong believed mobile phone numbers scrawled across the city as part of illegal advertising campaigns should be suspended when fines do not work.
The revision to the draft of the public bidding and tender was also discussed.
The inspection, design, construction and purchasing of equipment for infrastructure projects, State-funded projects and those using loans or aid from international organizations and foreign governments are all required to undergo the public bidding process, the revision said.
Therefore, construction projects for Olympic venues are included, said Zhu Rongguo, vice-director of the BMPC Commission of Legal System.
The Beijing municipal government says the construction of Olympic venues will use a public bidding and tender system, ranging from choosing investors to the purchasing of equipment and material.
(China Daily Septembert 5, 2002)
