Violent protests against polluting factories
About 200 villagers storm three factories and a water treatment plant in Fujian province. They complain that outflows from the treatment plant, located one kilometre from their homes, have polluted the water supply and caused a lingering bad smell.
Quanzhou (AsiaNews/SCMP) Hundreds of farmers stormed three factories and a water treatment plant in a leather development area in Fujian province on China's southern coast. Eyewitnesses said that some 200 residents from villages near Quanzhou, Quangang district, began a protest overnight on April 8. Some 40 of them armed with iron bars ransacked two leather factories and a South Korean-invested plastic factory.
Villagers complain that outflows from the treatment plant, located one kilometre from their homes, have polluted the water supply, damaged crops and caused a bad smell that has lingered in their communities for years.
The owner of the Xinde Leather Company said the villagers "rushed into the office building, kitchen, dormitory and grocery store, smashed all the glass, air conditioners and other breakable things and took anything valuable, including kitchen items," adding that three cars were also destroyed and the damage bill amounted to about a million yuan.
District officials and five police cars appeared during the incident, but "nobody stepped in to stop the villagers," he said. No one was injured in the incident.
Local police station director Cheng Hongbin said the serious nature of the incident meant police could not take strong action. "It was a massive incident and the villagers were angry. We couldn't take any action, nor detain anybody," he explained.
Officials from the Public Security Ministry denied instead that the police did not intervene and insisted that District officials are currently working with villagers and factories to find a solution.
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12/05/2005
