Call to give Metro garbage-sorting power
Eleven deputies to the city's legislature presented a proposal at the city's political session on Thursday which would give Shanghai’s Metro operator authority to enforce local garbage-sorting regulations.
The proposal points out that the Metro company has no legal authority to enforce garbage-sorting rules in Metro stations, which hinders the implementation of such regulations in these locations.
The deputies propose that regulations be revised to give the Metro company the power of independent enforcement.
The legislature's city construction and environmental protection committee said that current Metro management regulations, which took effect before the garbage rules were introduced, authorize the company to hand out administrative punishments to people who violate sanitation rules within stations, but don’t specify the company's role in punishing those who violate garbage sorting rules.
Meanwhile, 12 deputies in another proposal raised a similar issue at the city's airports, to which the commission gave a similar response.
Shanghai Metro said the problem raised by the deputies did exist, and it was necessary for the government to make a decision.
"Law enforcers with urban management authorities have been allowed in Metro stations to enforce the garbage rules, and the government should decide whether the Metro company should be authorized with the job," the company said.
Shanghai People's Congress will supervise enforcement of the garbage regulation this year and hold a hearing with the government on the matter.