Hainan appoints 1,743 chiefs to protect local rivers

Hainan has established a complete river chief system for all rivers on the tropical island province, with 1,743 river chiefs appointed from province level to township level and 2,164 workers employed to protect its rivers so far, according to data from the provincial river chief office.

To date, the provincial Party chief and the governor have been acting as the provincial general river chiefs, and 14 provincial level officials have been named as river chiefs for 52 rivers at the provincial level. About 4,808 information bulletin boards, which provide the contact-information and duty description of each river chief, have been erected. A total of 5,000 patrols have been carried out.

Hainan, one of the eight provinces to pilot the river chief system, has also completed a list of its rivers and lakes, and investigated their current situation. 

According to the office, the rivers will be well-protected with specific management schemes, which are still being drawn-up by city and county level governments.

To improve supervisory efficiency in protecting rivers, the capital city of Haikou has set up a platform helping to realize visual management of the whole process. 

To keep rivers clear has become a focused program on the whole island, said the office. 

Hainan will accelerate setting up a profile and management scheme for each river this year. The more refined rules and regulations of the river chief system, such as patrol guidelines, are expected to be implemented later. The construction of the information platform for river and lake protection will be started within the year. 

Hainan will also carry out a lake chief system this year, to expand the scope of water protection and achieve sustainable utilization of lake functionality.