Township government pays off debts to restaurants

A restaurant owner in Henan province finally got money he was due after he hung up a banner asking the township government to pay off 700,000 yuan ($110,000) in IOUs accumulated over the past three years.

Geng Weijie, the owner of the restaurant in Wangluo town, Xiangcheng county, put up the banner calling for government officials to pay off the debts on Thursday.

It attracted widespread attention.

According to media reports, local government officials gave IOUs to the restaurant whenever they held reception banquets there.

"I have no other choice but to name the township head, Han Junhong, on the banner, and hang it in front of my restaurant, to catch the government’s attention, and finally they paid off the debts on Friday", Geng told the Beijing News.

According to the township government office, the debts were reception fees they were not able to pay off in the past three years due to financial difficulties.

The township government had about 80 employees, the report said.