Spokesman system being introduced
By Wang Zhenghua (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-06-29 01:13

Beijing is striving to provide better and quicker information during and after unexpected fires.

City authorities Monday hailed a fire department plan to release information on fires and disasters as soon as possible.

The capital's goal is to ensure each district, county and department circulates information quickly.

A senior official with the city's fire department announced on Sunday that his department will arrange a spokesperson at each fire accident.

He or she is expected to provide information on rescue efforts, casualties and other information on the spot, said Sun Wenzhong, the department's deputy director.

According to Sun, the spokesperson system will ensure ordinary people's right to know about fires and increase their safety-consciousness.

Meanwhile, the system protects journalists' rights to cover news at the scene.

At the moment in Beijing, there are often no spokespeople at accident sites and information is always detained.

The latest example was the collapse at the Da'anshan Coal Mine.

Ten workers were killed in the accident. However, in the course of the four-day-long rescue, nobody was designated to provide information about the rescue.

In addition, journalists were not allowed near the site under the pretext that they might hamper rescue efforts.

Many believe the spokesperson system will improve the situation.

Based on the blaze's seriousness, the spokesperson can be an official at the scene, a person from the fire department or other personnel designated by the authorities, said Sun.

He also said the spokesperson will be banned from revealing State secrets while journalists will not be allowed to hinder the firefighters.

According to an official with the city's news office, the municipal government has been prompting its 28 districts and counties as well as various departments to designate spokespeople.

"However, they often cannot be contacted by media when they are really needed," said the official.

Some officials are afraid of being blamed, he said, and some are scared to utter the wrong words.

Another example is the fire at the 700-year-old Huguo Temple in Beijing's Xicheng District. Nearly 10 days have passed since the outbreak of the blaze, which burnt down part of the temple, but no government official or department has claimed responsibility.

The official said the movement towards transparency and quick reactions is evolving.

"Three years ago, the information of a sudden incident would not be officially announced until it had been clearly investigated," he said.

"But now," the official said, "some basic facts, such as the casualties, the number of the injured and missing will be declared as soon as possible."

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