Canson intensifies flood fears

• Source: Global Times
• [01:23 July 16 2010]
• Comments

Officials are taking precautions.

"About 12,000 residents were relocated to safer places. They are given mineral water and instant noodles," Ge Xiwu, a spokesman in Xiangshuitan township of Jiangxi, told the Global Times Thursday.

Rain is expected to drench East and Southwest China over the next 10 days, according to the National Metrological Center of China Metrological Administration.

While millions of people are coping with floods, some local officials were punished for using public expenses to join sightseeing trips to Shanghai.

In Fengcheng, Jiangxi Province, a total of 27 people from the local health bureau went on a five-day trip from June 16 to 27, Beijing News reported Thursday. Each of the participant paid 1,500 yuan ($221) for the tour.

The local discipline head confirmed Wednesday that Gan Zhihua, the head of the bureau, was removed from his post. The bureau's Party secretary, Luo Shenmeng, was transferred to the Party school in Fengcheng as a deputy president.

In the first half of this year, there were 19,000 geological hazards, 10 times more than the same period last year. Some 464 people died or went missing, a researcher with the Ministry of Land and Resources told CCTV Wednesday.