Wide-ranging and socially responsible measures for Shanghai
residents in 2007 were announced yesterday. The "11 good deeds"
include ensuring traffic safety of school shuttle buses and
improving rural public health facilities.
City officials also vowed to lift the overall safety levels of
food and drugs by 2010. Things closely related to people's daily
lives such as oil, rice and water would be given particular
attention.
"It's the principle of our government to solve practical
problems for the people," municipal spokesperson, Jiao Yang, said
at yesterday's news conference.
The government will market a universal logo for the city's 370
school and kindergarten shuttle buses.
A series of traffic safety measures includes regular training
for shuttle bus drivers, tougher punishments for bus drivers
breaking traffic rules and improved traffic signs in a radius of
between 50 meters and 100 meters around schools. The city at
present doesn't have specific rules for school shuttle bus
operation, drivers' qualifications or punishments if they break
traffic laws.
On December 22 a reversing school shuttle bus hit and injured
three children in the playground of the Xingchen Kindergarten in
Minhang District.
The government yesterday promised to standardize 400 rural
clinics, add 100 new ambulances and conduct free optic surgery for
3,000 "pearl-eye" patients.
The city will install household emergency call devices for
20,000 senior residents who live alone. It'll also provide home
services for 130,000 seniors.
Wang Longxing, head of the Shanghai Food and Drug
Administration, said at the conference that spot-checks would be
carried out on all kinds of food to ensure public safety.
Punishment measures for those who made food containing harmful
ingredients were not revealed.
A 2007 Blueprint -- 11 Initiatives
Identified
1. Creation of 500,000 job opportunities including 100,000 for
the unemployed and surplus farmers.
2. Upgrading of the city's 240 recovery and activity centers for
the mentally retarded.
3. Installing household emergency call devices for 20,000 senior
residents living alone.
4. Upgrading of 400 rural clinics.
5. Upgrading of communication equipment (telephone and Internet
access) for 400 rural primary and middle schools.
6. Providing training lessons for 500,000 farmers and
workers.
7. Fare discounts for bus passengers who transfer between two
buses and air-conditioning on many of the 300 routes around the
Inner Ring Road.
8. Standardization of 200 wet markets.
9. Placement of electric-recognition bars on one million tanks
of liquefied cooking gas or other hazardous chemicals.
10.Ensuring traffic safety for 370 school shuttle buses.
11.The setting up of 20 new community-activity centers.
Promotion of moral standards.
(Shanghai Daily January 25, 2007)