Dongyang (AsiaNews/SCMP) – Residents of villages of Dongyang County are ready to take up arms to force factories causing pollution in the area to shut down. The local government had promised to close or relocate the factories after an uprising on 10 April.

"The local government said it would clear the factories out by August 26, but that hasn't happened. Only one factory is being pulled down," said a villager.

The factory, Maikesi Chemical Co, is reportedly being moved with a 180,000 yuan (1,800 Euro) grant from the Zhejiang government. Chen Qixian, head of Dongyang's information department, declined to comment on reports of a deadline, saying he was "unsure what was going on in Hua Xi these days".

On 10 April, 30,000 residents of Hua Xi – one of the villages in the county – clashed with police sent to the area to violently suppress a protest against the high pollution levels. Residents said that since 2001, the year the 13 factories were set up, pollution had increased so much that the earth had become arid and vegetables inedible. A local resident said the population had to stop cultivation and dedicate itself instead to other modest activities.

The two-day clashes involved 1,500 public security men. By the end, seven policemen were killed and 17 villagers were detained. Eight of these are still in prison. Among the arrested, the case of 50-year-old Wang Liangpeng of Xishan village, sticks out. His family says he was not involved at all in the April revolt and accuses the other villagers of having sold him to the public security authorities to pocket the rewards promised informants.  The police newspaper, Dongyang Police Newspaper, says officers offer an unspecified sum as a reward for information about leaders of the revolt.

The situation is currently at a standstill. According to official documents, the government has ordered the immediate closure of six industries and has confiscated the license of another three to produce chemical materials. The other seven factories were ordered to close pending wide-ranging inspections by environmental authorities from the provincial government. These orders were never executed.

The biggest factory, Dongnong Chemical Factory Ltd, was ordered to move "immediately". Contacted by telephone, Dongnong officials declined to comment.

Always according to official documents, it appears that the Zhejiang provincial government had ordered the entire chemical complex to close in April last year because the land the factories occupied had been procured illegally from district farmers. However, the closure order was not enforced in this case either.