Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 11) - Commission for Discipline Inspection (CDI) workers in Songyang County, located in Lishui, Zhejiang, signed into the county's Commission for Discipline Inspection GPS Control Panel for the first time after returning to the office following the week-long holiday break. With the click of a mouse, the screen clearly displays the status history of each government vehicle in the county. The good news is that, out of all of the vehicles registered for government use, there hasn't a single instance of unauthorized usage.
Illegal usage of government vehicles is a topic of hot debate across all segments of society, with complaints during the holiday season increasing substantially. Although measures to completely investigate unauthorized usage of official vehicles have not formally put in place yet, there are fears that it will be very difficult to monitor, verify and manage each and every vehicle used, with the cars of department leaders hardest to deal with.
In order to prevent this so-called 'automobile corruption', Songyang County has installed GPS satellite positioning systems to monitor usage in all of its government cars. County officials hope that the new technology will help in the fight against corruption and help keep the city clean. A total of 439 vehicles from 75 different government departments and other municipal bodies were outfitted with the equipment prior to the Chinese New Year.
The CDI said that by employing the Songyang Commission for Discipline Inspection GPS Control Panel any department can inspect the position, movement and route of any vehicle in real-time.
In order to increase the effectiveness of the system, the municipal government requires any vehicle with an inactive or damaged system to have it replaced. If the system is found to be intentionally broken or has not been brought in for a replacement, the responsible department will be investigated. Any instances of unauthorized personal usage of government vehicles, such as stopping at entertainment or shopping centers without advance permission, will be dealt with seriously.
"In the period of time [the system] was in operation, supervision of government cars increased dramatically," said a CDI official said. "Not only did vehicle management improve, cases of personal usage… markedly decreased. Additionally [the program] reached its goals of cutting down vehicle costs." In addition to installing the GPS units, Songyang County plans to take further steps in improving management and making government vehicles more effective by arranging for fixed maintenance times, refueling stops and usage costs.
