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Government Loses Lawsuit for Failing to Settle Dispute
Farmers in an east China village have won a legal battle against their county government for its refusal to settle a water use dispute between them and a neighboring village.
The Higher People's Court of Zhejiang province ruled in the final instance last week that the county government is legally responsible for settlement of cases such as this dispute, and its malfeasance was negligence.
The government was ordered to take action to solve the conflict within two months after the ruling came into force.
During the Spring Festival period in 1996, farmers in Kaiyang Village, adjacent to Zhongcun Village, built a dam on the upper reaches of a nearby river diverting all water for its own use, and thus completely cut off water supply for the neighboring Zhongcun.
Both villages are under the administration of Yongjia County in Wenzhou, an economic center in Zhejiang.
Some 110 Zhongcun villagers appealed to the county government, which failed to resolve the dispute, leaving the two sides at odds.
From November 1998 on, the villagers filed suits in the county and city courts. Finally a judgment came saying that the matter "should be handled by a competent administrative department." The villagers submitted the appeal again to the county government on December 1, 1999, but the government ignored.
The villagers argued that the government turned a deaf ear to the conflict and its negligence helped escalate the conflict.
Last August they filed a suit against the government with the Intermediate People's Court of Wenzhou, which ruled in favor of the villagers, a judgment which was later upheld by the provincial higher court.
"We farmers used to be weak before the county government, but the law makes us stronger against improper deeds by the government," said villager Chen Zheng.
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