Lou Qinjian, secretary of the CPC Provincial Committee, urged the province to carry out re-inspection on the weak links of environmental protection in accordance with the feedback of the central environmental inspectors. He made the remarks while going on an inspection tour Tuesday to the industrial parks and enterprises along the Yangtze River.
Jingjiang, a county-level city in north Jiangsu, has a coastline of 52.3 kilometers along the Yangtze River, shouldering a heavier responsibility of ecological and environmental protection in promoting the economic development of the Yangtze River.
Lou Qinjian inspected a wetland on the bank of the Yangtze River where he was briefed on the formulation and implementation of the ecological protection plan for the Yangtze River coastline and the layout of the shoreline and ecological wetlands.
This wetland used to be a sprawling behemoth of small enterprises. After relocation and transformation, it has become the largest comprehensive riverside wetland park in the province, and a good place for residents to spend their leisure time.
]Lou was also briefed on the regulation on the chemical plants within one kilometer of the Yangtze River embankment, stressing that from the perspective of the entire Yangtze River Basin, the Jiangsu section is one of the areas with the heaviest ecological load, making it more urgent to repair the ecological environment.
To restore its ecological environment will be an overwhelming task and no large-scale development will be allowed along the river at present and for a rather long period to come, he said.
The status and role of the river mean the development along the river must prioritize ecology and "green development" to respect natural, economic and social rules, Lou added.
The CPC Provincial chief visited Taixing Binjiang Wastewater Treatment Co., Ltd. where he was briefed on the company’s measures for the treatment of sludge.
The sludge cleaning work has all been completed, and sludge disposal is being carried out in a standardized manner in compliance with the regulation. The disposal will be in place by the end of June next year, and ecological restoration and other related work will be carried out in due course.
Lou Qinjian asked the local authorities to learn the lessons of environmental pollution incidents, enhance their awareness of the seriousness and long-term complexity of environmental protection issues, enhance political stance, strengthen accountability, and further improve the responsibility chain in a more scientific and effective way, and take solid measures to promote the rectification work.
When inspecting a plot of contaminated land in the economic development zone of Taixing, Lou made on-site inquiry into the cause of the pollution and learned about the progress of the regulations.
The re-inspection of the central environmental inspectors has provided us the follow-up for further actions against environmental protection, Lou Qinjian said, adding that many environmental problems have been formed in the past development and we must take up this responsibility as historical environmental debts must be re-paid.
The CPC Provincial chief also urged more enterprises to enhance their environmental awareness, follow the path of green development and act in compliance with the feedback of the central environmental inspectors so as to implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s thought on ecological civilization.
(Source: ourjiangsu.com)
