The governor of north China's Shanxi Province has criticized the
local publicity department for failing to respond quickly to the
media when news of the brick kiln forced labor scandal hit the
headlines.
Yu Youjun, formerly the head of the local publicity department
in Guangdong, chastised his subordinates for failing to clarify
points which appeared in some media reports, and accused some of
the reports of being "incorrect".
"Publicity officials should keep track of information from the
press, including online media, and respond in a timely fashion to
sensitive issues and issues that attract public attention," he
said, at a provincial conference on Tuesday on how to prevent
further labor abuses.
Last Friday, Yu apologized at a press conference held by the
State Council-appointed investigation team, over the forced labor
scandal, promising to do everything in his power to tackle the
issue.
"We must reflect on the experience, even though it is extremely
painful, and we must learn our lesson," he said.
"The brick kiln incident shows that governance of labor
practices and the migrant population in some areas, especially in
the rural brick and tile kilns, is porous and weak," Yu said.
"The absence of governance, in addition to official misconduct,
have made the existence of such labor abuses possible and
rampant.
"Government employees should be responsible for allowing kiln
bosses and foremen to make the lives of these workers full of blood
and tears," he added.
Yu said he had sent 11 teams head up by provincial-level
officials to supervise the crackdown on labor abuse. "The teams
will go to each county in the next 15 days to check if local
authorities have done their job and done their job right," he
said.
(Xinhua News Agency June 28, 2007)