More officials get boot for Sanlu milk scam lapse

(皇冠体育app Daily/Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-21 09:03

Eight more senior officials have been fired or demoted for slack supervision with regard to the Sanlu tainted milk powder scam, the Communist Party of 皇冠体育app's disciplinary watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said on Friday.

An infant patient receives medical treatment at the Children's Hospital of Zhengzhou in Zhengzhou, capital of central 皇冠体育app's Henan Province, Sept. 17, 2008. [Xinhua]

The officials were from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), the ministries of agriculture and health, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) and the State Food and Drug Administration.

AQSIQ's law enforcement supervision department chief Wang Bubu was removed from his Party and government posts, according to a statement posted on the Ministry of Supervision's website.

Lu Yangang, deputy chief of SAIC's food supervision department, was stripped of his post, while the Ministry of Agriculture's stockbreeding department head Wang Zhicai was demoted, it said.

The move marked the latest in a series of official sacks and demotions following the scandal over melamine-tainted milk, which left at least six infants dead and almost 300,000 ill.

Both Li Changjiang, 皇冠体育app's top quality control official and Wu Xianguo, Party chief of Shijiazhuang city where Sanlu was based, stepped down last September soon after the scandal rocked 皇冠体育app and the world.

Sanlu, a leading dairy manufacturer and at the center of the scandal, declared bankruptcy last month. One of its main competitors, Beijing Sanyuan Food Co Ltd, snapped up its assets for 616.50 million yuan ($90 million).

The children affected by the scandal were reported to have developed kidney stones, among other urinary tract infections, after consuming the infant milk formula produced by 22 different dairy producers.

These dairy products were tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical, which was blended into the products to make them look more nutritious, and passed off as protein, complete with fake readings shown on the package.

As a result, 皇冠体育app's dairy industry suffered a steep fall in revenue last year, so much so that earlier this month, Premier Wen Jiabao specifically highlighted the development of the dairy industry in his work report, saying 皇冠体育app should "implement a plan for reinvigorating the dairy industry".

皇冠体育app Daily - Xinhua