(ECNS) -- At a community in Nanning city, Southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, the first floors of some properties are occupied by restaurants, with most of their chimneys installed over the signboards. Smoke is discharged directly, choking passers-by. Some residents on the lower floors suffer even more from the pollution.
Smoke and fume pollution from restaurants is not new and local. It has become an urban disease across Chinese cities, China Youth Daily has reportted.
Officials in Nanning city admitted local governments' management absence.
Environment protection used to be a pre-requisite prior to a restaurant opening for business. However, due to administrative changes, the government now only steps in when harm is already done, which proves more difficult for officials, said Zeng Ming, the vice director of the Environmental Protection Bureau of Nanning.
Polluting restaurants are usually reluctant to cooperate with a government order to improve air quality. Officials also find it challenging to proceed with follow-up punishments in case restaurants fail to cooperate.
In some cases, it can take at least two months to get through bureaucratic red tape, said Wang Yong, an environment official in Qingxiu district. By the time paperwork is done, the concerned restaurant may have been transferred or simply shut down to evade punishment.
According to local regulations, real estate owners who rent their premises to restaurants guilty of polluting can be fined up to 10,000 yuan (about $1,610). However, this is rarely enforced.
"This means our governmental management is insufficient," said Wei Minhong, the mayor of Qingxiu. "Multiple departments suffer from a management vacuum."
Advanced urban planning is key to resolving the issue, according to Qin Menglin, an associate professor from Guangxi University. Real estate developers should reserve 10 to 20 percent of property specifically for restaurants and preinstall purifying hardware to combat pollution from the start.
