Official checks should come as a surprise

• Source: Global Times
• [21:00 February 02 2010]
• Comments

The problem was that the buildings only had one wall, making them nothing more than a facade giving passing inspectors the illusion of real buildings. Potemkin villages have sprouted up in towns around China simply to satisfy scheduled inspections, diverting precious money and resources in the process.

But perhaps the most distressing examples of elaborate facades induced by planned inspections are those of factories. Of course, a planned inspection of a factory is better than no inspection.

However, when factory operators are given even one day's notice of an inspection, it'll be enough to temporarily suspend and hide illegal factory operations ranging from employing underage workers to dumping pollutants in rivers.

When I used to work in the kitchen of a pre-school in the US, we were subject to multiple surprise inspections each year. The inspectors were also held to strict rules where accepting so much as a soda from us would constitute an unethical gift and result in their firing. This kept both us and the inspectors honest.

There's no reason why China can't follow. Surprise inspections cost the same as planned ones, and are far more effective.

Of course the greatest beneficiaries of planned inspections, the inspectors themselves, probably wouldn't be anxious to reform the system that allows them to be treated as kings. Strict rules and oversight of inspectors are also needed.

Planned inspections need to be phased out across China because they produce nothing more than elaborate and temporary facades that make puppets of those they aim to serve.

The author is an American teaching in Nanjing. globaltimesopinoin@yahoo.com