China admits collapsed schools were shoddily constructed

Although residents of Sichuan do not feel free to discuss the so-called tofu construction of the hundreds of collapsed schools that devoured so many thousands of their children in the recent major quake, the government appointed panel has admitted that shoddy construction “could be a factor.”

The fact that many of the collapsed schools were surrounded by other buildings that survived intact suggests they might be barking up the right tree. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the report mentions other possible factors such as the large ceilings of classrooms.

A Chinese government committee said Thursday that a rush to build schools during the country’s recent economic boom might have led to shoddy construction that resulted in the deaths of thousands of students during a devastating earthquake in May.

The statement by Ma Zongjin, the chairman of an official committee of experts assessing damage from the May 12 earthquake, is the first time that a representative of the Chinese government has acknowledged that poor construction may have led to the collapses. Until now, officials in Beijing and in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, which suffered the most damage, had said the sheer force of the 7.9-magnitude quake caused the collapses.

The school collapses have become the most politically sensitive issue to emerge in the aftermath of the earthquake. This summer, grieving parents held street protests to challenge local governments and demand that officials conduct proper investigations into construction quality.

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"RSS here": http://feeds.feedburner.com/GnnBeagle17 Grew up in Nova Scotia. Hold BSc. in Biology and Grad. Diploma Journalism. Moved to Korea in 1997, and Taiwan in 1999. Currently teaching, writing, and doing Web design. Concerned about depleted...

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