Lawmaker Jiang Deming wants to make sure that rural areas are
not left behind when the country takes action to ensure people have
clean water, fresh air and a better environment in which to
live.
Jiang, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) from
east China's Jiangsu
Province, submitted a proposal at the ongoing session calling
for an agricultural environmental protection law.
While Premier Wen Jiabao undoubtedly had the whole country in
mind when he proclaimed environmental protection as a key national
objective in his work report to the NPC on Saturday, Jiang believes
that ad hoc legislation will help to protect the countryside from
the downside of development.
"Unlike cities, most rural areas do not have special funds put
aside for building sewage treatment systems. As a result, waste
collects here and there and pollution is rampant in many regions,"
he said.
China's rural ecological system is extremely fragile. Jiang
cited a survey that indicates one-third of the country's total area
is already blighted by erosion, a figure double the forecast made
in studies conducted less than 20 years ago.
Erosion causes sedimentation levels to rise, ultimately with
adverse effects on hydroelectric output, availability of irrigation
water, flood control potential and the availability of navigable
waterways.
Added to this, at least 133,300 hectares of farmland have been
either tainted or ruined by solid waste, and polluted air is
fouling growing conditions for more than 5.3 million hectares of
arable fields, Jiang said.
Many farmers have applied excessive amounts of fertilizers and
pesticides to their crops, leaving harmful residue in the soil and
ultimately in agricultural products.
Gao Wangsheng, a professor at Beijing's China Agricultural
University, noted that conserving the environment is important to
safeguarding the security of the food supply in China.
The threats to the rural environment call for prompt and
effective action in the form of a statute specifically addressing
the issue, Jiang said. The law he proposes would oblige rural
authorities to include environmental protection in their annual
economic and social development plans, while allocating special
funds for cleaning up polluted areas.
It would also help to end the flight of polluting industries to
the countryside, a trend that has grown owing to more stringent
urban environmental regulations.
However, opponents of Jiang's proposal argue that implementation
of existing statutes is more important than drafting new ones.
Zhang Jianyu, a visiting scholar at Tsinghua University, told
China Daily that since the late 1970s China has been
formulating and revising environmental protection laws and
regulations. Although many of these statutes were prompted by urban
industrial pollution, they apply to rural areas as well.
Zhang advocates increasing fund allocations for existing
environmental cleanup and protection projects and doing more to
curb pollution in the countryside.
(China Daily, China.org.cn March 9, 2005)