There were 141 complaints filed in November, 2014 via the tip-off hotline 12369, 114 of which were verified, said China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) in a circular Wednesday. According to the ministry’s tally, the chemical industry received the most complaints of any sector, 39 tip-offs in total. It was followed by manufacturing and processing with 24 tip-offs and non-metal mineral product with 19 tip-offs. The four provinces received the most complaints were: Hubei(16), Guangdong(14), Shangdong(13), Henan(13). Air pollution was the number one cause of complaints, followed by sound and water pollution.
Even though all the verified cases have been dealt with by local departments of environmental protection according to the ministry, there are still problems regarding the execution of penalty decisions made by environmental departments. Experts say those problems are a reflection of the lack of efficient legal measures in dealing with environmental pollution before the enactment of the new environmental law.
Editor’s Note: The MEP opened hotline 12369 in 2009 to give people a direct way to inform the ministry about environmental pollution.The hotline takes calls about emergency environmental issues, cross-provincial pollution and other environmental issues that should be dealt with by environmental departments.
