Environmental evaluation should be open

Environmental concerns are a topic that deserve the utmost scrutiny, the People’s Daily said (excerpts below).

On some occasions environmental evaluation results are considered confidential and not open to the public.

Such foolish actions have only caused the public distrust and even anger. The chemical project in Kunming, Yunnan province, was a good example: the public were denied information that they had a right to.

The distrust is so deep that even after the local government published the report, some questioned its accuracy.

Facing these situations, the local government needs to do more to win back trust. All the information must be put online for public access. Questions raised by the public must be answered.

Progress has been made, more must be done.