doctor_slump 2008-10-2 02:03 AM
China milk scandal firm asked for cover-up help
Reported by Reuters:
A Chinese company at the centre of the scare over tainted milk powder had asked for government help to cover up the extent of the problem, state media said on Wednesday in the newest development in the widening scandal.
In the Communist Party newspaper the People's Daily, Shijiazhuang city government spokesman Wang Jianguo said they had been asked by the Sanlu Group for help in "managing" the media response to the case when first told of the issue on August 2, six days before the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing.
China's latest food safety problem, involving the addition of the industrial chemical melamine to milk to cheat in quality tests, has caused public outrage and put the spotlight back on deficiencies in industry oversight and weak regulatory bodies.
China has already said the city government in Shijiazhuang, home to the Sanlu Group whose contaminated milk sparked a recall now spread worldwide, sat on a report from the company about the tainting for more than a month, while Beijing hosted the Olympic Games.
"Please can the government increase control and coordination of the media, to create a good environment for the recall of the company's problem products," the People's Daily cited the letter from Sanlu as saying.
"This is to avoid whipping up the issue and creating a negative influence in society," it added.
This week, Reporters Without Borders said Beijing had ordered news of the scandal hushed up ahead of the Olympics.
"Several Chinese journalists have said that it is becoming more and more obvious that the authorities in July prevented an investigation into the toxic milk coming out so as not to tarnish China's image before the Olympics," it said in a statement.
Thousands of children fell ill after drinking the milk, and four died. But the rush of people taking their children to hospital for check-ups appears to be slowing, Xinhua news agency said.
"The work involved with offering free check-ups has turned from an emergency situation to normal," it quoted Wen Honghai, Shijiazhuang's top health official, as saying.
Countries around the world have banned Chinese dairy imports, or ordered them to be taken off shelves, as it became clear yoghurt and other products were also affected.
Scores of foreign companies have been forced to recall products made with Chinese dairy ingredients, or to reassure customers their goods are safe.
Dairy sales in China dropped too, though Commerce Minister Chen Deming told Xinhua in an interview that sales had begun to bounce back as consumer confidence returned.
"Generally speaking, the sales situation for dairy products around the country has taken a turn for the better," he said.
China has a poor record when it comes to ignoring or glossing over bad news. In 2003, it initially tried to cover up the spread of the respiratory disease SARS.
But Wang, who did not say whether the government complied with the media control request, defended the actions of his colleagues, who he said did send a team at once to probe Sanlu and to look for those suspected of adulterating the milk.
"Yet it was not until September 9 that it was reported to the Hebei provincial government," the newspaper said, referring to the province where Shijiazhuang is situated.
Beijing has already fired several Shijiazhuang officials, including the city's Communist Party chief, for the attempted cover-up.
Wang said the city government had not considered the consequences of their actions.
"We mistakenly thought that taking necessary measures and raising product quality could mitigate the effect and reduce losses," he said.
"The bungling of the best opportunity to report up the handling of the issue caused much harm to people's safety, and seriously affected the image of the Party and the government," Wang added.
He also expressed "deep guilt and pain" for the scandal.
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What actually published
[url]http://society.people.com.cn/GB/41158/8125374.html[/url]
石家莊市政府新聞發言人
三鹿奶粉事件為何遲報
2008年10月01日05:07 來源：人民網-《人民日報》
人民網石家莊9月30日電 （記者王明浩）三鹿牌嬰幼兒配方奶粉事件後果十分嚴重，對廣大消費者身體健康造成很大危害，對河北乃至全國牛奶產業帶來巨大衝擊。儘管事故發生後石家莊市委、市政府做了大量工作，但由於未能及時上報、處置不力，導致了蔓延全國的重大食品安全事件。作為當地政府，為什麼對事件遲報？記者新近採訪了石家莊市政府副秘書長、市政府新聞發言人王建國。
王建國首先代表石家莊市政府對三鹿牌嬰幼兒配方奶粉事件的發生深感內疚和痛心，對廣大嬰幼兒患者及其家長表示深深的歉意。他說，8月2日，石家莊市政府領導接到三鹿集團股份有限公司《關於消費者食用三鹿部分嬰幼兒配方奶粉出現腎結石等病症的請示》，稱“懷疑三聚氰胺來源可能是所收購的原料奶中不法奶戶非法添加所致，懇請市政府幫助解決兩個問題，一是請政府有關職能部門嚴查原料奶質量，對投放三聚氰胺等有害物質的犯罪分子採取法律措施；二是請政府加強媒體的管控和協調，給企業召回存在問題產品創造一個良好環境，避免炒作此事給社會造成一系列的負面影響”。由於市政府缺乏政治上的敏感性，只就請示提出的問題作出了處理：立即責成公安機關組織精幹力量，對奶站、奶廳涉嫌非法添加三聚氰胺行為進行調查，並由主管副市長帶隊，組成工作組，趕赴三鹿集團，幫助企業進行事故處理，但直到9月9日，才向河北省政府報告。
8月2日至9月9日，石家莊市政府雖然也及時採取了一些措施，如對反映到三鹿集團的患者進行走訪和調查，對因使用三鹿產品造成疾病的患者給予幫扶救治；督促三鹿集團投資500多萬元進口了專用檢測設備進行專項檢測，督促企業派出400名員工，對擠奶、儲奶、運奶、交奶進行全程監控；回收市場上三鹿嬰幼兒配方奶粉，到9月10日，累計收回奶粉8210噸，封存2176噸，約佔市場總量的90%。然而，由於市政府向上級機關遲報信息，導致了蔓延全國的重大食品安全事故，對在國內外造成重大不良影響負有責任。
王建國表示，我們負有不可推卸的責任：一是政治上敏感性差，對事故缺乏政治上的敏感性，沒有上升到事關全局的、事關人民群眾生命健康的高度去認識，去看待三鹿集團反映的問題；二是認識不到位，後果估計不足。對這次事故的嚴重危害缺乏前瞻性分析，錯誤地認為採取了必要的措施，提高了產品質量，就能挽回影響、減少損失，以至于在國內外造成重大不良影響；三是對企業考慮信任、支持的多，對可能造成的負面影響考慮不周，特別是由於資訊的遲報，貽誤了上級機關處理問題的最佳時機，給群眾生命安全造成重大危害，嚴重影響了黨和政府的形象。
sanple 2008-10-2 08:56 AM
{::155主阿~請給我們健康的食物 阿門.....
{::164 我相信很多人跟我一樣~已經不在相信[color=red]無能[/color]的政府 {::175
[[i] 本帖最後由 sanple 於 2008-10-2 09:05 AM 編輯 [/i]]
