THE Nanshan People s Procuratorate has initiated proceedings against two government officials suspected of taking bribes from a stone market to facilitate its illegal operation.
The stone market in Nantou Subdistrict, Nanshan, remained open for business after a five-year legal operational period expired in 2008.
The two suspects, Chen Chunfu of the city land reserve center and Zheng Zhixiong of the law enforcement team in Nantou Subdistrict, allegedly received bribes of 170,000 yuan (US$25,560) from the stone market, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.
The land reserve center is in charge of managing land reserves and the law enforcement team is in charge of demolishing illegal buildings.
Those who allegedly paid the bribes said it was not that much, an unidentified person was quoted by the paper as saying.
Two men in charge of the stone market, who were suspected of offering bribes, were detained by in August, the paper said.
In 2003, the district government commissioned a local cleaning service company to manage the stone market on a five-year basis.
Many illegal buildings were constructed in the stone market, which covered an area of 64,500 square meters.
The district government started demolishing the stone market in April, meeting resistance from about 100 dealers in the market, who demanded compensation.
The compensation request was turned down by the government because the market was operating illegally. It had since been demolished. (Li Hao)
