South China's Guangxi urged to improve coastal environmental protection

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The State Oceanic Administration (SOA) on Monday criticized the government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for its failure to control pollution and supervise land reclamation along its coast.

An SOA inspection team listed a number of environmental protection and land reclamation problems in Guangxi after a survey of the autonomous region from August to September, said an SOA press release.

The SOA pointed out that the regional government did not pay enough attention to nearshore waters, noting that the nearshore water quality in the region has dropped from 2016.

Among the 453 waste water drains into the sea in the region, only 41.7 percent met pollution control standards, and only 29 drains were approved by the environment authority, according to the statement.

Illegal sand extraction in Qinzhou City has not been controlled or stopped since a citizen complained in 2014, said the statement.

The SOA also said that the government had been slow to restore its coastline, adding that less than one third of the 360-km targeted coastline was in a satisfactory state.

The SOA said a large amount of reclaimed land was deserted, noting that about 934.6 hectares have not been used for a long time.

The region was also found to have failed to protect nature reserves. Industrial projects were found to overlap reserves. Mining and sand heaping were also found inside the reserves.

The Guangxi government was told to submit a plan for rectification within 30 working days and report on progress in six months. Enditem