China's officials urged to swim in polluted rivers
February 20, 2013 @ 12:36 am
BEIJING (AP) - Two local environmental protection officers in China have been openly challenged to swim in trash-strewn, heavily contaminated rivers for cash prizes in a sign of growing frustration among the Chinese public over widespread pollution.
Businessman Jin Zengmin posted on his microblog Saturday photos of a garbage-filled river in his eastern hometown of Rui'an city and dared the local environmental protection chief to swim in it for a cash prize of 200,000 yuan ($32,000).
On Tuesday, another challenge started to circulate online in which an unidentified netizen offered 300,000 yuan ($48,000) for the environmental protection chief in a nearby county to swim in polluted rivers there.
A Rui'an government official who would only give his surname, Chi, said the government welcomes public supervision.
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