Solid Waste Adorns Beijing’s Grand Canal World Heritage Site “美离”中国:大运河系列一
Here's
an image I took of the pollution in the Grand Canal in Beijing after the
devastating and fatal floods from July of 2012. According to various
statistics, at least several dozen or so people died because of a faulty
drainage system, although we will probably never know the true number of fatalities
due to the government's pathological fear of the truth. One China Daily estimate put
the figure at 77 deaths. A rule of thumb for gauging Communist Party statistics is to at least double or triple figures
formally announced by the Chinese government that reveal any inadequacies or mistakes in
governance.
As I understand it, the drainage system was donated and built by the Russians in the fifties, but was never even finished, nor has it ever been substantially upgraded or repaired since. Please feel to correct my information if you feel I have made any inaccurate statements.
A
lot of this solid waste is still hanging on the side of the bridge over a year later!
This is how the Chinese government treats a UNESCO World Heritage Site and its
people’s human right to existence in the capital of China.
Although,
it is only fair to add that both ordinary citizens and companies are actively contributing
to the pollution of the waterways across China and there are signs forbidding
dumping and fishing. Still, there is no visible attempt to curtail any of these
so-called illegal activities, nor is there any systematic dredging or cleanup
effort being undertaken that I’ve seen in 18 years of living in China. I do,
however, genuinely pity the misguided fools who continue to fish for a toxic “free
lunch”!
Imagine
how many jobs could be created for underprivileged and financially challenged
citizens if a serious effort was made to at least clear out the solid waste
from China’s river systems. Even if many toxic chemicals and heavy metals
remained, it would still be a cosmetic coup for the formalist's school of
leadership.
I
was positive that they would undertake such a policy in preparation for the
2008 Olympic Games, as it is a no-brainer, but the government’s vow of a Green
Olympics quickly turned brown. A clearer example of unconditional entitlement
by a dictatorial regime could hardly be found.
Not
exactly the “Chinese Dream” from the propaganda murals so wastefully and superfluously
plastered across the city at the expense of the Chinese taxpayers!
On a positive note, the Pearl River along the Shatian District of Guangzhou is no longer as thick, chunky and dark as French Onion Soup, like it used to be back in the early nineties.
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