1-by-3 scrutiny will better protect environment

In response to public concerns about environmental protection issues, the provincial government in Fujian has initiated a "one-by-three" inspection with a clear problem-oriented approach. Beijing News comments:

The "one-by-three" inspection launched by the local environmental protection, Party and government watchdogs in Fujian on Monday will mainly focus on the environmental issues exposed by the inspections of the central and provincial environmental protection departments.

They are conducting a joint investigation, as experience shows that the perfunctory work style of local officials in the field of environmental protection is hard to tackle by the environmental protection departments single-handedly.

That the three offices are conducting a joint investigation indicates how much resistance the environmental watchdogs expect to encounter in their routine inspections and the opposition they anticipate getting their instructions translated into actions.

Fujian has set a good example by directly engaging the Party and government disciplinary departments in the environmental protection department, as this will greatly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their follow-up inspection.

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment organized the second round of inspections on May 31 in nine provincial-level regions, after finding many problems in the first round of inspection two years ago still remain untouched.

It means some local governments have turned a deaf ear to the ministry's instructions, let alone the inspections of the environmental watchdogs at lower levels.

Many local officials do not have enough motivation to take the initiative to protect the environment, as the polluters are often major tax revenue sources and growth engines. The "one-by-three" inspections will exert more pressure upon local officials to clean up their act and give priority to environmental protection rather than economic growth. Before the founding of a quantitative index system for evaluating the officials' performance in environmental protection, they will not shoulder their responsibilities to protect the local environment.