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Restaurant pollution reveals governance loophole

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2015-07-23 14:16Ecns.cn Editor: Mo Hong'e

餐饮油烟污染已成城市病 扰民投诉折射管理缺位

南宁市盛天茗城小区也是油烟污染的重灾区。小区一楼的商铺有很多都是餐饮店,大多数餐饮店将烟囱安装在店铺的招牌上方,油烟直接对外排放,从马路边经过都能闻到呛人的油烟味,小区内一些低楼层的住户更是深受其苦,部分住户声称由于受到油烟异味的长期侵蚀,导致其出现呼吸困难、无法入眠、咳嗽不停、经常头痛的症状。

(ECNS) -- At a community in Nanning city, Southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, the first floors of some properties are occupied by restaurants, with most of their chimneys installed over the signboards. Smoke is discharged directly, choking passers-by. Some residents on the lower floors suffer even more from the pollution.

Smoke and fume pollution from restaurants is not new and local. It has become an urban disease across Chinese cities, China Youth Daily has reportted. 

Officials in Nanning city admitted local governments' management absence.

Environment protection used to be a pre-requisite prior to a restaurant opening for business. However, due to administrative changes, the government now only steps in when harm is already done, which proves more difficult for officials, said Zeng Ming, the vice director of the Environmental Protection Bureau of Nanning.

Polluting restaurants are usually reluctant to cooperate with a government order to improve air quality. Officials also find it challenging to proceed with follow-up punishments in case restaurants fail to cooperate.

In some cases, it can take at least two months to get through bureaucratic red tape, said Wang Yong, an environment official in Qingxiu district. By the time paperwork is done, the concerned restaurant may have been transferred or simply shut down to evade punishment.

According to local regulations, real estate owners who rent their premises to restaurants guilty of polluting can be fined up to 10,000 yuan (about $1,610). However, this is rarely enforced.

"This means our governmental management is insufficient," said Wei Minhong, the mayor of Qingxiu. "Multiple departments suffer from a management vacuum."

Advanced urban planning is key to resolving the issue, according to Qin Menglin, an associate professor from Guangxi University. Real estate developers should reserve 10 to 20 percent of property specifically for restaurants and preinstall purifying hardware to combat pollution from the start.

  

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