Embezzled Funds from Three Gorges Project RecoveredOf the 473 million yuan (57 million US dollars) embezzled and misappropriated by officials in the massive relocation project linked to the Three Gorges Dam construction, 338 million yuan (41 million US dollars) has been recovered, a special auditing contingent reported on April 13.From 1993 through 1999, the central government earmarked a total of 17.68 billion yuan (2.1 billion US dollars) for the resettlement of 220,000 residents who live along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, where the new dam will be built, an auditor said. Auditors have learned that the misuse of the relocation funds started as soon as the project did. Over the years, prosecutors in the project area have uncovered 138 cases involving 165 officials who misappropriated 31 million yuan. The most serious instance involved 15.56 million yuan pocketed by a single official. The Commission for the Construction of the Three Gorges Dam issued an order today that the 1998 tally of 473 million yuan in misappropriated funds discovered by the National Audit Office be returned to the relocation account in full by the end of June. The commission also ordered all towns and villages located within the project boundaries to make their financial accounts public and to accept public supervision so that further losses will not occur. |
| Please visit People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |