The city government of Chengdu, capital of China's earthquake-ravaged Sichuan Province has decided to auction off its smartly-designed administrative complex for more disaster relief fund.
He Huazhang, a government spokesman confirmed the auction plan on Friday, saying the move could help "reap a billion yuan for the post-quake reconstruction work in Chengdu."
The 1.2 billion-yuan (175.8 million U.S. dollars) complex in the shape of a six-petal lotus flower was designed by French architect Paul Andreu, who won his reputation in China for his work at the Grand National Theater of China in Beijing and the Pudong Airport in Shanghai.
His work in Chengdu has become an architecture icon in the city's newly-planned administrative center in the southern outskirts, which was put into use just two months ahead of the devastating May 12 earthquake.
By the time of the magnitude-8 earthquake, some governmental institutions had already moved into the new building. The government office move, however, has sparked controversy among Chengdu people especially after they were traumatized by the powerful earthquake.
A byline article carried on the Sichuan-online (www.sconline.com) on Thursday said that the iconic architecture trumpeted by the government to showcase the regional strength and a smart city image was launched at the wrong time and the wrong place, so as to be the center of blame on the government for lavishing public finance.
"The government's auction plan must have been made under the pressure of public censure. But it is, after all, a positive government response to public opinions," the author Liu Hongbo wrote.
He Huazhang, the government spokesman, admitted that the earthquake has led to changes in the government's attitude in policy decision making, which has turned to give more focus on the people's livelihood than on image building.
He said that the new administrative compound was built in line with the city's urban planning, which was aimed to promote the development of the southern outskirts.
"The idea of shaping up a cluster of administrative organs in the zone was aimed to enhance the government's work efficiency," said the spokesman.
Wang Songtao, the chief engineer of the municipal urban planning bureau, told Xinhua that the auction of the government building would not affect the strategy of developing the administrative center.
"The government compound has been planned to be turned into a headquarters building for software research and development through the planned auction," he said.
No official source was available for the government's schedule on the auction.
A civil servant surnamed Xiong said that he began to pack up things to move back to the old government building in the downtown, after staying in the new building for three months.
He said that he heard all government institutions were moving out of the building, and the government would dedicate the income from the upcoming auction to the reconstruction work.
The building proved intact in the powerful earthquake, which killed more than 4,300 people and injured 33,500 others in and around Chengdu.
The city government estimated that the city's economic losses in the earthquake had run up to 120 billion yuan. The reconstruction work would need over 150 billion yuan.
In addition to sustaining the use of the old administrative building, the city government has decided to save money for the reconstruction by cutting this year's administrative expenditure by 10 percent through such measures as canceling overseas inspection trips and new purchases of government vehicles.
Source:Xinhua
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