Supervision minister confirms punishment, explaining that some of them tried to profit from the tragedy. Deputy finance minister announces cuts in many departments to save money for quake victims.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Chinese government has punished 43 Communist officials for misconduct over disaster relief efforts following last month's devastating Sichuan earthquake, including 12 who were sacked, Supervision Minister Ma Wen said. The punishments were meted out after more than 1,000 complaints from the public.

Most of the complaints “were about misuse of tents in initial disaster relief efforts and the improper distribution of food and other goods,” said Ms Ma, who is also head of the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention.

Many were punished for reacting slowly to the emergency or trying to profit from tragedy that killed more than 70,000.

One of the officials caught and fired for buying substandard relief goods was the deputy head of the local assembly in Anyang, a city in the poor central province of Henan.

Officials not dismissed were given administrative demerits, meaning they were either demoted or had a black mark put against their name limiting future promotions.

Deputy Finance Minister Liao Xiaojun told the same news conference that government departments would be required to tighten their belts after the central government said it would cut the budget to divert more funds to helping quake victims.

“We have demanded that departments hold fewer meetings or shorten meeting times, cut down on business travel, use official cars less and economise on water, electricity and fuel usage,” Liao said.

• china
• sichuan
• henna
• liao
• xiaojun
• ma
• wen
• corruption
• earthquake
• crackdown