(Ecns.cn)--Du Houzhi, former general manager of the operator of the Harbin-Dalian Passenger Railway Line, was sacked from his post in late June and is under investigation, according to the Economy & Nation Weekly, a financial magazine published by Xinhua News Agency.
The detainment makes Du the fourth top official from China's railway system to be fired and interrogated in the country's battle against corruption, after former Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun, Shao Liping (former chief of Nanchang Railway Bureau), and Lin Fenqiang (former head of the Hohhot Railway Bureau).
An insider from the Harbin-Dalian Passenger Railway Line told the magazine that Du was suspected of involvement in wrongdoings during the bidding and construction of the line. Heads of engineering bureaus who took part in the construction were assisting in the investigation.
Du's grip on power
The Harbin-Dalian Passenger Railway Line, a 904-kilometer high-speed railroad, is an important part of the Beijing–Harbin passenger-dedicated line. The planned investment of the project was 92.3 billion yuan.
Main construction of the rail began on August 23, 2007, and finished at the end of June this year. As the general manager of the line's operator, Du had been in charge of the construction since 2007. Before taking that post, Du had been general engineer and deputy director of the Nanchang Railway Bureau and general engineer of the Shanghai Railway Bureau.
"Du is a short and rigorous man," recalled a worker from the China Railway No 9 Group, one of the engineering bureaus of the line. "He was familiar with technical details."
However, Du's management style had long been criticized by some of his subordinates. During construction, Du dominated the decision-making for everything, from seeking commercial bank loans to purchasing supplies to quality supervision, despite the presence of seven vice-general managers.
"Only Du's words would make sense," said the manager of a contracted builder. But the over-concentration of power may have led to a lack of effective restrictions, which provided the perfect soil for corruption, he commented.
In addition, Du behaved badly to employees that he did not like. "Several employees, including some middle-level managers, left the company in the past four years because they could not bear Du's management any longer," an insider told the magazine.
Bidding turmoil
The Harbin-Dalian Passenger Railway Line started engineering bidding work in June 2007 and was separated into three "big" construction sections. In order to finish the project more quickly, Du allowed several engineering enterprises affiliated with the China Railway Construction Company and the China Railway Group to start work before the bidding results were even announced.
China Railway Construction failed to win the contract in the end. However, the company's three engineering bureaus continued as contracted builders on the line, because they had already started work in advance and had location advantages, an insider said.
In order to balance profits among various sides, Du took out 6 billion yuan worth of "small" construction sections from the "big" ones, and then subcontracted those to the three above-mentioned engineering bureaus under China Railway Construction.
"The nonstandard way of bidding could easily result in a black box operation," said an insider. Some of the activity during the bidding process may be part of the reason behind Du's detainment, he said.
In addition to bidding problems, Du may also have cheated in the purchase of construction materials such as steel, cement and so on, the insider said. Du took part in the process despite standard procedures set by the Ministry of Railways for such bidding, he added.
