City's planting plan sprouts hot debate

FOSHAN, Guangdong - A controversy has arisen among residents in this Pearl River Delta industrial city in response to local authorities' plan to spend a lot of money to plant trees along two major streets in the city's Chancheng district. Related readings:
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The district's bureau of environmental protection, traffic and urban management is now soliciting bids for the planting of 601 maple, kapok and camphor trees along Jihua Road and Foshandadao Avenue, both busy thoroughfares. The planned planting along the two roads will cost local government about 14 million yuan ($2.13 million), which comes out to more than 23,000 yuan for each tree. According to the bid documents, any winning bidder will be responsible for planting the trees and ensuring that they survive. When planted, the trees are to have trunks with diameters of 40 centimeters to 79 centimeters and heights of 7 meters to 11 meters. The project has stirred up controversy among locals.

Li Dehong, a Foshan housewife, said the plan calls for spending too much money on something that in the end will merely decorate the streets. "Government departments should not waste taxpayers' money," Li told China Daily on Thursday. "They should spend more to improve the city's schools and build more affordable houses for the city's poor." Li said she is worried the expensive trees won't thrive in Foshan's soil and climate. Not all hold the same opinion. Chen Wencong, a local white-collar worker, is in favor of the project. "Planting trees along the city's major roads will not only help the city's environment, but also help raise the city's reputation," he said. "Many international metropolises attach great importance to planting trees in their! urban d istricts or to improving the environments in which residents live or work. So the large amount of money is actually worth spending." An official from Chancheng district's bureau of environmental protection, traffic and urban management said the trees selected will grow well in Foshan. "And their prices are not expensive," said the official, who declined to give his name. He said the prices became known after the bureau had conducted a market survey previously this year. According to a local businessman surnamed Deng, Foshan's budget is reasonable. Deng, who runs a nursery stock farm, said a camphor tree with a trunk diameter of 50 centimeters now costs about 30,000 yuan, and a kapok with a trunk diameter of 40 centimeters to 50 centimeters and a height of 9 meters to 12 meters costs 15,000 yuan in the local market. "The prices may be slightly lower for purchases by governments and big companies," Deng said. "But room for big price reductions does not exist."