No one is in the village committee office. This photo was taken by our reporter, Zhu Jialei.
In June this year, the Village Committee of Donghongsi Village, Kangzhuang Town, Yanqing County held a change-of-terms election. However, up to now, the old and new committees have not completed the handover, and the newly elected committee has taken office but is unable to carry out normal work.
Yesterday, reporters went to Donghongsi Village and found that there was no one in the village committee's office area. The affairs of the village were completely paralyzed, affecting the daily lives of villagers. Regarding this situation, reporters interviewed both the town and county governments, but neither side made any comments.
Embarrassing Situation
There was no one in the village committee office.
Yesterday morning, reporters arrived at Donghongsi Village. The village committee office area is a quadrangle courtyard that was just built and renovated. There are no office supplies or staff inside the offices.
According to the current village party secretary and village chief, Yan Junfeng, the office premises for the village committee were started last spring by the previous committee. It was expected to cost 3 million yuan, but it has already cost about 6 million yuan. After the election in June, the former committee did not hand over the official seal and accounts. Currently, all village committee affairs are paralyzed, and they cannot operate normally.
In front of a small grocery store in the village, when the reporter explained the purpose of the visit, more than ten villagers gathered around and vied to tell the reporter about the awkward situation caused by the paralysis of the village committee, which led to all village affairs being put on hold. The villagers said that since the re-election, no one has managed the village affairs.
Unable to issue death certificates
According to villager Mr. Yang, his family member passed away on September 26th and needed a death certificate from the village committee for cremation at the crematorium. But there was no one in the village committee office. He found the former village party secretary and village chief, Xie Jinhai, who claimed he was no longer a village cadre and told him to find the current leadership.
However, the current village party secretary and village chief, Yan Junfeng, stated that he also had no way to handle it. "Since I was elected, the old village committee has not handed over the official seal and accounts. How can I issue a death certificate?"
Yan Junfeng said that according to relevant regulations, if someone dies in the village, they need to fill out the 'Public Display of Funeral Subsidy for Urban and Rural Residents Without Funeral Benefits in Beijing', then stamp the village committee's official seal and post it for public display for seven days. After that, the deceased's family can receive the funeral subsidy. Currently, apart from Mr. Yang, another villager has encountered the same problem.
Mr. Yang said he had to use connections to first cremate his family member, "but I still cannot get the funeral subsidy or cancel the household registration."
No one cares about the dilapidated houses
Seventy-year-old Mr. Zhu said, "So much money was spent building the village committee office, but the dilapidated houses in the village have not been renovated." As an elderly person without family, two years ago, the village committee promised to renovate his dilapidated house and filled out the application for renovation subsidies.
After the paralysis of the village committee, no one repaired his dilapidated house. "Winter is coming soon, and the house leaks wind everywhere. I don't know what to do."
The brothers, Yan Feng, who have just been released from prison, live in two earthen flat-roofed houses. Yan Feng said, "The village has already applied for dilapidated housing subsidies, but we haven't received the money yet." Reporters saw that the brothers' house was in shambles. The paper-covered walls were peeling and cracked, and the wooden roof had several large holes. "When sleeping at night, you can hear the house creaking, and it feels like it could collapse at any time."
Villagers complained that there is a railway passing through the village. To facilitate travel for the villagers, the village hired people to dig a passage under the railway tracks. Due to poor drainage systems, water accumulates whenever it rains. Previously, the village committee would send people to pump out the water, but now no one manages it.
Villager Mr. Yang said: "The project was organized by the former village committee, but it wasn't constructed according to the blueprints. Whenever it rains, the water accumulates to a depth of one to two meters." The other night, he drove under the bridge, and because it had rained earlier in the day, there was standing water under the bridge. "The water directly submerged the steering wheel, and the car floated on the water. With the help of others, the car was pushed out, but it is now completely scrapped."
The villagers said that every time it rains, they have to take detours, "it takes 40 minutes to ride a bicycle." And after winter ice forms, vehicles cannot pass at all.
Different Opinions
Election announcements mysteriously posted
Mr. Zhao participated in the village re-election work in June this year. According to him, during the re-election of the village committee, three candidates competed for the position of village party secretary and village chief. On June 20th, more than 700 villagers (out of a total of over 1,000) voted, with Yan Junfeng receiving over 360 votes, and the former village party secretary and village chief, Xie Jinhai, receiving over 100 votes. "At that time, Xie Jinhai did not allow the election committee to post the election results."
Yan Junfeng told reporters that after his decisive victory, the results were never publicly displayed. He had repeatedly gone to the Kangzhuang Town Government to inquire about the reason. "A vice-town mayor at the time said that someone in the village wrote an anonymous letter accusing Yan Junfeng of vote-buying and threatening villagers to vote for him. The town government organized an investigation team to look into it."
On September 21st, an announcement titled "Announcement of the Eighth Election Committee of Donghongsi" was posted outside the village committee office, stating that Yan Junfeng was directly elected as the village chief by eligible voters through secret ballot voting. The announcement was signed by the election committee and dated September 17th. Yan Junfeng said, "If I had engaged in vote-buying, my election would not have been publicly announced."
Two members of the election committee stated that they were not notified about the posting of the announcement, and they did not know who posted it. When reporters asked multiple villagers, including Yan Junfeng, none knew who posted the announcement.
After the announcement was posted, the old and new village committees still did not complete the handover. Yan Junfeng said he had approached the town government, "and they asked me to wait a little longer."
Reporters were "passed the buck"
The former village committee secretary and village chief, Xie Jinhai, refused to be interviewed but said, "The reasons for not handing over are known by the relevant departments of the town government. You should go ask them."
At 11 a.m. yesterday, reporters went to the Kangzhuang Town Government. At the entrance, they met Vice Secretary Ge of the town government, who claimed he was in a meeting and could not be interviewed. At 1 p.m., reporters returned to the Kangzhuang Town Government, but the publicity department staff did not respond to the matter. Reporters then went to Vice Secretary Ge's office, where he said, "You should ask the village about this matter."
Subsequently, reporters contacted the public relations department of Yanqing County. A responsible person said that they had also inquired about this matter with the Kangzhuang Town Government, but the latter did not respond.
Regulations Link
Town-level government should reclaim the seal
In 2001, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security implemented the "Opinions on Standardizing the Issuance, Use, and Management of Village Committee Seals," which stipulated: The township-level government and the civil affairs department of the county-level government must supervise the handover of the village committee seal after the term change. Within 10 days after the term-change election, the previous village committee must hand over the seal to the current committee. If the village committee refuses to hand over the seal, the issuing authority will be responsible for reclaiming it and holding them accountable (the village committee seal is issued uniformly by the township-level government).
This edition was written by reporter Wang Yi of our newspaper.