Pay your bills, Beijing orders developers
By Zhang Xin
HONG KONG - Developers in China who don't pay their debts, including wages, can expect to pay the piper instead under a new policy put into force by the powerful General Office of the State Council.
Previously, timely payment of wages and other obligations on construction projects was the responsibility of the Ministry of Construction and other departments, but their lassitude has reached such a serious level that the State Council has become worried about social and economic stability, and has issued a directive ordering all levels of government to clear up the backlog within three years from 2004.
Under the Circular of Earnest Resolution on Overdue Construction Funds, governments at all levels must tighten the supervision of construction enterprises and sites, crack down on such illegal activities as embezzlement or defaulting of wages and offer legal aid to those claiming overdue payments. Moreover, strict inspections will be made to ascertain that all construction laborers, subcontractors and suppliers are paid on time.
The state media have been encouraged to report failures to comply with the directive and name those responsible. Xinhua News Agency, the state's mouthpiece, on Tuesday quoted the Circular of Earnest Resolution on Overdue Construction Funds as saying, "The issue [of defaulted payments] has not only undermined the normal economic order [and] hindered healthy development of the construction market, but [it has] also magnified the already worsened problem of overdue wages of [laborers] and farm workers, which jeopardizes social stability."
The circular says overdue payments of wages and other obligations should be made top priority upon the arrival of new construction funds. Construction companies that maliciously embezzle or delay wages of laborers will face rigid punishment in accordance with the state's related regulations. Such enterprises will be exposed on a blacklist to the media, and the individuals concerned will be investigated and, if found in breach of the law, delivered to judicial organs.
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