Jeff Byrne

    IN May last year, the Guangdong marine authority deemed the Sea Palace, a villa floating on Dapeng Bay in Longgang District, an illegal building and a court subsequently ordered it to be demolished, that is, torn down — not dismantled.

    But it was dismantled into three sections. And only months later, it suddenly became “legal.”

    The Longgang marine and fishery administration said it had not been demolished “in consideration for the development of marine tourism, the maximum use of resources and pollution control.” Keep pollution control in mind. Keep in mind also that the district government responded only after what seems to be a barrage of publicity and questions from the media and the public.

    When a local authority finds a structure is illegal and a court orders it be demolished, that should be the end of it — unless there is an avenue of an appeal. If a court order is ignored — as it appears it was in this case — then it is contempt of court, an extremely serious offense in a civil society.

    It was also a slap in the face for the Guangdong Provincial Government because it was the provincial marine authority that found the villa was an illegal structure.

    There has been no mention of an appeal process in the opaque machinations of this farce. We were told the villa had been legalized by “administrative procedures.” This can only mean that the “rules” were changed. Laws can only be changed by the legislature.

    So why were the rules changed? And, for whose benefit? It was reported that the owner of the complex was to donate its proceeds to the marine authority for “scientific research and environmental protection.” Not quite the same as the reasons given by the district marine and fishery administration.

    But it gets better. The villa would also be “donated” to the marine authority, according to a statement by the owner. What a generous man. It was said to have originally been built for leisure fishing and an aquatic products business.

    What we seem to have here is a situation screaming for an inquiry, particularly when the city’s marine authority steps in and revokes the license granted to the developer, Fashion Group Holdings Ltd., because the villa had illegally occupied a sea area. The wording seems to be specific: the Sea Palace is illegal. Not for the business it wanted to conduct, but for its location.

    A curious statement by the owner last week said: “The 100 million yuan (US$15.26 million) project solved hundreds of technical problems in design and construction. It was not open to the public because more time was needed to test it for safety, resistance to typhoons and its capacity.”

    Does this mean that the hundreds of technical problems in design and construction were not really solved? The owner apparently thought it was safe enough to operate as a “club” for a coterie of friends and acquaintances for at least five years.

    The best this newspaper could extricate from the Longgang government was that the matter was being investigated by a “higher authority.” We await the results with bated breath.

    What we have here is a district government department thumbing its nose at the law. How can ordinary citizens be expected to respect the law when it is blatantly disregarded by those in authority?

    But then, this is what happens when we have a society ruled by force of law rather than rule of law. If only that force of law could be brought to bear on dodgy officials and their dodgy decisions.

    (The author is a Shenzhen Daily senior copy editor and writer.)