Xi’an weighs the dirt on streets, cuts cleaners pay if they fail to make the grade
The local sanitation department in the capital of Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province started weighing the dirt on the city’s streets in February to determine street sweepers’ salaries, in a move netizens have criticized as far- reaching and overly strict.
The new rules in Xi’an say that inspectors will measure the weight of the dirt on three randomly- selected square meters of road using an electronic scale, news portal chinanews. com reported Tuesday.
Each road is given a grade to determine to what standard it must be cleaned. First- grade roads must have less than five grams of dirt per square meter, second- grade roads must have less than 10 grams and thirdgrade roads should have less than 15 grams.
If workers fail to keep their roads within the standards, their pay will be docked. The government has not made it clear to what degree their pay will be affected.
“The environment has improved a lot since this act took effect,” Lan Yougang, the head of a neighborhood sanitation office, was quoted as saying.
However the scheme has stirred controversy, with netizens criticizing it as unreasonably strict and cleaners complaining of overwork.
“Why are some rules not strict for government officials and so strict for the cleaners,” net user “AQ” wrote on Sina Weibo.
“I have to sweep the road three or four times from 4 am to 6 pm everyday even though the road I am responsible for is defined as third- grade, and I work overtime a lot,” 62- yearold cleaner Wang Guanhai complained.