Local govt slammed for praising itself instead of providing fire details

Experts have criticized a local government for focusing more on congratulating itself for putting a blaze than explaining the fire’s causes and aftermath, as this shows the authorities have a “formalist” mentality.

The People’s Daily newspaper reported Wednesday that the government of a Henan Province city published a statement on its official Wechat account after a fire engulfed a local company.

The city’s name, the time of the fire, the name of the company and the date of the statement were not mentioned in the People’s Daily report.

Locals found that over half of the statement described how officials helped in fire- fighting efforts, listing each officials’ title and name, while only giving one line over to the number of casualties – apparently zero in this case – and the investigation into the fire’s causes, the People’s Daily reported.

The People’s Daily wrote that a near- identical case occurred in an unnamed northern city in 2015.

“Dedicating a big portion of the report to officials’ efforts actually reflects their bureaucratic and formalist mentality, which should be rectified,” Hu Xingdou, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, told the Global Times.

“China has been promoting anti- formalism and antibureaucracy for many years but the phenomena have not been eliminated in some areas, therefore strengthening democratic and mass supervision is necessary,” said Hu.

“Accident reporting should focus more on the causes and aftermath instead of promoting local officials’ role in coping with the accidents as this is their duty,” said Hu.

The State Council, China’s cabinet, sent inspection teams to Beijing and nine provinces to examine the implementation of anti- bureaucracy policies in May, the Xinhua News Agency reported.