MAYOR Xu Zongheng called the hotline of the municipal urban administration authority March 17 as an ordinary resident to complain about an uneven manhole cover, only to find the problem still there two days later, Saturday’s Shenzhen Evening News reported.

Xu shared this experience with MPC deputies from Longgang District during a panel discussion Friday afternoon, the report said. “Government departments should respond conscientiously to citizens’ complaints and solved them in time,” the mayor was quoted as saying.

Xu said he saw the potentially dangerous manhole cover at 11 a.m. March 17 at the intersection of Caitian Road and Hongli Road. He immediately called the hotline of the urban administration bureau and reported it in a personal capacity.

During the phone call, Xu also expressed his hope that the departments concerned would send personnel to fix the problem as soon as possible, the News report said.

However, two days later, the mayor found the manhole cover was still there. There was no sign of anyone having tried to move it, Xu told the lawmakers.

Wondering what had happened to his complaint, Xu called Wu Zijun, head of the municipal urban administration bureau. “We’ll check the records of complaints by telephone to see what action had been taken,” Wu told him.

That night the problem was fixed, and the following day, a letter of self-criticism from the urban administration bureau was put on the mayor’s desk.

The mayor said the hotline operator was very polite to him when he called. However, as an ordinary resident, he was more concerned about whether his report would be handled in a proper way and in a timely manner. He therefore urged all government departments to take every single complaint from local residents seriously.

(SD News)