Hunan village spends RMB 10m building 7-story office block for 8 staff

Officials in a village in the central Hunan Province have spent 10 million yuan (US$1.64m) on a 7-story office block — all for just eight staff.
 
Yungai Village in Yuelu District in the provincial capital Changsha City has been saddled with a debt that will take 10 years to pay off, reported Legal Weekly.
 
And now it is claimed the newly completed structure was illegally built.
 
While the office block covers thousands of square meters, Yungai has only six officials and two assistants, according to the report.
 
According to Tan Junwu, Party chief of Yungai Village, its main purpose is to attract investment.
 
He didn't think the design inappropriate, saying it goes with the spirit of documents issued by Yuelu District.
 
The office block is already in use, but it has been claimed that it is an illegal structure as it does not have property usage documents.
 
According to the report, local land and urban management authorities had issued notice to suspend construction, but were ignored.
 
Tan said Yungai Village was created from the merger of three villages and its committee needed an office.
 
He insisted that the building would contribute to the village's future development.
 
However, most villagers who spoke to the newspaper described the building as a waste of money, saying an office building on such a scale is unnecessary.
 
Officials in Lianhua Town, which has authority over the village, did not comment.