In Quake’s Wake, Chinese Point Fingers at Shoddy Construction and Corrupt Officials
May 19th, 2008 • Posted in: NewsSome of the structures that collapsed were dubbed “tofu buildings” due to poor condition
SICHUAN PROVINCE, China
The devastating earthquake in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan has highlighted an ongoing corruption problem, according to press reports: buildings that were not built according to construction codes and inspectors who may have looked the other way.
The Los Angles Times reports that while building codes are taken seriously in larger cities, smaller locales sometimes turn a blind eye to shoddy construction. According to the Times, the ever-widening gap between modern cities and the countryside seems to apply to safeguards as well as income.
In an analysis, Associated Press reporters Elaine Kurtenback and William Foreman write: “Three decades of high-paced growth have remade China, with stunning showcase metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai as well as formerly tiny county towns that are now small cities with office towers and multistory apartment buildings. But as the widespread devastation from Monday’s quake shows, the pell-mell pace has led some builders to cut corners, especially in outlying areas largely populated by the very young and the very old.”
According to a report from the Independent’s Beijingbureau, Chinese officials late last week said they are investigating whether shoddy construction was to blame for the collapse of many schools in the area of the quake, warning that developers found guilty would be severely punished.
About 7,000 schools were destroyed in the southwesternsection of Sichuan province. As of late Sunday night, the death toll from the quake was estimated to be over 32,000, according to a dispatch from the state news agency.
The Globe & Mail’s Geoffrey York, reporting from near the epicenter, notes that some members of victims’ families claim that local officials had pocketed money meant to be spent on school construction and that private firms had saved money by cutting corners.
York writes: “Many other survivors were convinced that corruption had played a role in determining which buildings collapsed and which were unscathed. One man pointed to a new building whose first floor had collapsed, even as older buildings around it were intact. ‘They used fewer bricks in the new building, so they could earn more money,’ he said.”
The shoddily constructed structures are commonly known as “tofu buildings,” according to York’s report.
Sources: China Daily, May 18 — Independent, May 16 — Globe & Mail, May 15 — AP, May 15 — Los Angeles Times, May 15.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Apr. 28 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 21 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 14 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 14.
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