Why did all three livelihood projects fail?, Involving over 40 million yuan of central funds
In recent years, in order to promote the development of local economy and social undertakings, the central government has provided certain investment subsidies to eligible local government investment projects and enterprise investment projects every year, covering areas such as affordable housing construction, pollution control, energy conservation and carbon reduction. These funds have played a positive role in promoting local construction. However, during a recent interview in Changyuan City, Henan Province, the reporter learned that some supporting projects for affordable housing invested by the local central government have become decorations.
According to the 2016 Central Budget Investment Plan for Supporting Infrastructure Construction of Affordable Housing Projects in Henan Province, the projects included in Changyuan, Henan Province at that time, included the Puguang Community Resettlement Housing Supporting Project, the Food Company Resettlement Housing Supporting Infrastructure Project, and the Weizhuang Shantytown Renovation Project in Changyuan County. These three projects involved a total of over 40 million yuan in central budget funds. Seven years have passed, how have these projects been implemented and have they achieved the expected results? The reporter conducted an investigation into these three projects.
We first arrived at the Hepingli community in Changyuan, where we are implementing the supporting project for the food company's resettlement housing as listed in the plan. According to the plan, three three-dimensional garages will be built here with central funds as supporting facilities for the community. But residents have reported that the three-dimensional garage has indeed been repaired, but it has not been used at all.
Entering this garage, it was filled with dust and flying debris, and there were no signs of parked cars on the ground. Some areas have been damaged, even the circuits have not been officially connected, and some corners have even become places to pile up garbage. A three-dimensional garage is a mechanical equipment system that can access and store vehicles in large quantities, which can solve the problem of limited ground parking spaces. What is the reason behind the idle and abandoned three-dimensional garage that has been built? The reporter found the property management of the community to understand the situation.
"So far, we have not transferred the technical management rights to us," said Liang Caiyun, manager of Hepingli Community Property Company in Changyuan City, Henan Province
Who built this three-dimensional garage on earth? Why not deliver it to the property management for use after completion? The property manager said that these garages were all applied for by the developers of the shantytown renovation community.
Fu Caiting, the person in charge of Changyuan Aoqi Real Estate Development Company, said, "I am afraid that there may not be enough ground parking spaces. Since there are government support policies, I am applying for a three-dimensional parking space."
The government support policies mentioned by this person in charge are special funds from the central government. According to the application materials at that time, in 2016, the three-dimensional garage project of the food company's shantytown renovation and resettlement housing, as well as the property sanitation housing, were included in the central budget investment of Henan Province's affordable housing infrastructure, with an expected investment of 5.42 million yuan. Why did good things end up rotting? We found the construction company of the three-dimensional garage to understand the situation. The person in charge of this company said that most of these three-dimensional garages are not easy to use in practical use.
Fu Sen, the person in charge of Zhongyuan Aoqi Industrial Co., Ltd., said, "It belongs to special equipment and undergoes inspection every two years. Like an elevator, it needs to sign a professional maintenance team every year. Each parking space costs more than 100 yuan and keeps investing in it. Owners will not pay for this item."
It seems that these types of products are difficult to park, have many restrictions, and incur relatively high operating costs when actually used. The market acceptance is very low, and garage manufacturers are clearly aware of this. Is the shantytown renovation office responsible for implementing this project clear about this situation?
With funding, three six story three-dimensional garages capable of accommodating 123 parking spaces were quickly built. The person in charge of the enterprise undertaking the construction of the garage said that using government special funds to build a three-dimensional garage is the most appropriate.
Dong Peng, Director of the Shantytown Renovation Office in Changyuan City, Henan Province, said, "If the garage is implemented, it will benefit both the people, the government, and individuals. As a result, what is beneficial to the people has not been done properly, but has benefited oneself."
Undoubtedly, the construction company of the garage, Aoqi Industry, has become the biggest beneficiary of this project. According to the bidding documents at that time, they won the bid for 4.61 million yuan and built 123 parking spaces, with an average price of nearly 40000 yuan per parking space. During an interview with Aoqi Industry, the reporter learned that even now, the market price they offer for each parking space is only about 20000 yuan.
The market price is around 20000 yuan, and by the time the project in this community was implemented, the company had won the bid for nearly 40000 yuan. The profit margin in between is really considerable. Even so, why is the garage still not able to be delivered and used normally? The investigation by reporters revealed that the reasons behind this are also related to inadequate project management by relevant departments. According to the bidding plan released by the Shantytown Renovation Office of Changyuan City at that time, the bidding content not only includes the construction of a three-dimensional garage, but also clearly includes "training of installation and commissioning personnel, trial operation, and delivery for use.".
Not only has it not been put into use, but in fact, these three garages have not even completed the most basic number. These three garages, with a total of 123 parking spaces, were completed by the end of 2017. However, in June 2018, the garage construction party received a demolition decision from the local planning bureau, requiring them to demolish one of them within 15 days.
Mao Yongxia, Deputy Director of the Natural Resources and Planning Bureau of Changyuan City, Henan Province, said, "The residents also reported that it affected natural lighting, so they issued a demolition penalty decision. However, 15 days did not come and he demolished it on his own."
After the garage was demolished, the company did not find a place to rebuild, but instead piled up a pile of waste in the community. However, this does not affect the relevant departments from fully allocating the remaining nearly one million yuan project funds to the company in 2019.
The number of parking spaces is insufficient and has not been delivered for use, but the company has already received all 4.66 million yuan in financial funds. In this way, there will be no one to manage issues such as trial runs and delivery operations in the later stage. The problem of difficult parking in residential areas remains unresolved.
The first project result in the schedule is that the funds have been spent and the garage has become a decoration. What about the next project in the schedule? Let's take a look at the Puguang Community Resettlement Housing Supporting Project. The local government submitted an application to build a kindergarten, a clinic, and other related facilities, with a total allocation of over 18 million yuan from the central government. But the reporter walked around the community twice and did not find the newly built kindergarten.
Song Guangjun, Deputy General Manager of Henan Great Wall Construction Company, said, "Originally, the application was in the southern area of the community, which was not realistic. The original plan was very well considered, but planning coordination and adjustment could not be achieved, so it was said that it was not done. The two areas were planned well, and it cannot be said that a building will emerge. This is definitely not the case. So at that time, the application plan was well imagined, but in the end, it could not be realized."
The kindergarten says there is no place to build it, but where is the clinic? There is a row of commercial storefronts at the entrance of Puguang Community, and the developer said that two of them are sanitary rooms. According to the bidding documents for this batch of supporting projects in Puguang Community at that time, in December 2016, Great Wall Construction Company won the bid for this project, and the completion date of the building where this clinic is located was also December 2016. This means that the entire building had already been completed when the bidding process was in progress. So, why do we talk about building a new clinic?
Dong Peng, Director of the Shantytown Renovation Office in Changyuan City, Henan Province, said, "Build first and then strive for funding, taking into account practical purposes."
It is said to be for practical use, but in fact, this so-called clinic has not been put into use until now. The basic requirement of China's fiscal special funds is to use special funds for specific purposes. Where did the 18 million yuan invested by the central government in this project go?
The project in Puguang Community has applied for 18 million central funds locally, but only 6 million yuan has been disbursed. It is unknown where the remaining funds have been used. According to the Management Measures for Direct Investment Projects within the Central Budget of China, unauthorized adjustments to construction standards or investment scale, changes to construction locations or contents; Transferring, occupying, or misappropriating construction funds is considered a violation of regulations. How does the local development and reform department responsible for project supervision view this phenomenon?
Chen Feng, head of the Urban Development Department of the Development and Reform Commission of Changyuan City, Henan Province, said, "Our management of it starts from project initiation and ends at project completion. This is the process of our supervision. After the project is completed, we deliver it. The management issues they encounter during their use are beyond my scope of responsibility."
It is said that after the completion of the project, it will no longer be under the supervision of the development and reform department. However, during an interview, the reporter found that the third project in the schedule, which is the Weizhuang resettlement housing supporting project, has not even been completed. What is the reason for this? According to the plan, a 560 meter road will be built locally, connecting two municipal roads from Weiba Road to Weishi Road. The central government has allocated a total of 17 million yuan and plans to complete it in 2017. However, when we came here to understand the situation, we found that six years had passed and this road was still a dead end, with over 200 meters left to be repaired.
Chen Feng, head of the Urban Development Department of the Development and Reform Commission of Changyuan City, Henan Province, said, "It is understood that there is a section that has not been fully completed due to demolition issues, and there may still be some stagnation."
In order to build this road, the central government had already allocated 17 million yuan of funds, but the road was not completed. At the construction company of this road, the reporter learned that they actually only received over 6 million yuan in funding. According to the requirements of relevant documents, local development and reform departments and housing and construction departments should take measures to strengthen the dynamic supervision of project construction implementation. Projects that cannot be completed on time or fail completion acceptance will be punished through measures such as criticism, withdrawal or deduction of investment from the central budget.
After the reporter's interview, the local authorities have made improvements to these problematic projects, and now the garage, clinic, etc. are gradually being put into use. The central government funds are invested in local livelihood projects. In order to use the central government funds on the cutting edge, truly promote development, benefit the people, and benefit the party, it is necessary to strengthen effective supervision of the implementation of funds and projects. How can such a "popular project" win the hearts of the people if the central government's funds are treated as Tang Monk's meat and only applied for, regardless of project implementation and actual results?
