Demolition of HK-donated school 'totally wrong'

CHENGDU - The demolition of Mianyang Bauhinia Ethnic Secondary School, built with donations from Hong Kong, was "totally wrong", said a spokesman of the Sichuan Provincial Government on Friday.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, the spokesman said that the provincial government does not agree with the demolition and has a clear stand on the event.

The provincial government has always adhered to the principle of respecting the wishes of donors and those offering aid in terms of any change in projects built with donations, said the spokesman.

He said that it was "totally wrong" to dismantle the secondary school without the approval of relevant authorities of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The spokesman said the provincial government is investigating the case.

The Mianyang Bauhinia Ethnic Secondary School was rebuilt after the Wenchuan Earthquake that occurred in 2008, with 1.65 million HK dollars donated by the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers and another 2 million HK dollars from a trust fund set aside by the HKSAR government for the purpose of post-quake reconstruction.

The school went into operation in March 2010 and the school buildings were dismantled earlier this month.

The HKSAR relevant authority said earlier that it is considering taking back the 2 million HK dollars in aid for the construction of the secondary school.

The spokesman of the Sichuan Provincial Government made clear that they will improve the supervision of projects funded by donations from the HKSAR and Macao Special Administrative Region to ensure a full respect of donors' wishes and a better management of construction projects in the future.