Reuters
September 19, 2006

‘There needs to be a major shift in the way of doing things — no longer trying just to get permission [for a project] but to lead efforts for public participation,’ says environmental advocate Ma Jun.

Beijing: China needs major reforms in the way it handles environmental issues and increased public participation to resolve chronic water shortages and pollution, a leading environmentalist said on Tuesday. … “It’s not a matter of technology. It’s not particularly a matter of money,” said Ma Jun, who wrote the influential book “China’s Water Crisis” and now runs an environmental NGO. “There is an urgent need to reform the environmental governance structure,” Ma told the Foreign Correspondents’ Club. Ma has made it his mission to compile a public database on water pollution and environmental offenders across China on his organisation’s Web site (www.ipe.org.cn), convinced that only with information can the public mobilise against polluters. “There needs to be a major shift in the way of doing things — no longer trying just to get permission (for a project) but to lead efforts for public participation,” Ma said