Image building raises stink

The three newly-built villa-like yet stinky public toilets in Beijing's Haidian district at the cost of 1 million yuan ($160,000) are a disgrace on district officials, says an article on xinhuanet.com. Excerpts:

Should the people laugh or cry at the foolhardiness of Haidian district officials' to boost their image by building the tawdry public toilets with rotting garbage strewn all over the place? The local officials have not only wasted taxpayers' money on the three useless showpieces, but also made life difficult for people in the neighborhood by polluting the environment.

Worse, instead of taking corrective measures in response to public complaints, the local officials have tried to hide their blunder by citing lame excuses. How can officials serious about serving the people allow public toilets to be turned into stinky garbage dumps? Local officials should abandon their sense of superiority and communicate regularly with the people to understand and fulfill their urgent needs. Had they done so, they would have realized that public toilets should be hygienic, not showy.

The three public toilets are a perfect example of pompous publicity without any material. Therefore, the authorities should launch "mass line" campaigns to fight the evils of formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance.

The opinions expressed on this page do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.