Local govt asks to 'borrow' orphans for inspection

GUANGZHOU - In a Buddhist temple a man asked the abbot if he would lend the local government a dozen orphans ahead of an inspection. The abbot refused the request.

This absurd scenario in South China's Guangdong province was recorded on video and posted online last week by micro-blogger Xia Chuhui.

Along with the video, Xia wrote that the civil affairs bureau of Rongcheng district, Jieyang city, went to Zifeng Temple to borrow orphans ahead of a check from the provincial government.

The authenticity of the video has been confirmed by an official from the bureau.

In the recording, the man named Huang Jianwei said the district government told its superiors that it had a welfare home for orphans as required by the provincial authorities. However, it actually did not have one.

The district built a welfare center with public donations 17 years ago and it was designed to be used as a shelter for helpless elders and orphans.

However, the building has given way to funeral and interment services, a marriage registry and part of it was even rented out for commercial use, leaving the district's more than 100 orphans either living under the custody of local temples or families. 

Huang Shenghui, office director of Rongcheng civil affairs bureau, said the welfare center was used for other purposes due to a lack of money to complete the needed facilities.

According to the district, it still needs one million yuan (about $160,809) to complete the welfare home. A district government report shows that the budgeted fiscal expenditure of the area was 874 million yuan in 2012.

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