Not a difficult problem to solve

Installing the Beidou positioning system, a Chinese version of GPS, is a good way to monitor the use of government cars, says an article in Nanfang Daily. Excerpts：

How to prevent civil servants from using cars bought and run with taxpayers' money for private purposes has long been difficult problem for the Chinese government.

The Guangzhou municipal government has found an effective solution to this problem. It started installing Beidou in all government cars in August 2011 to monitor their use.

By the end of last year, 8,491 government automobiles in Guangzhou had been installed with Beidou, accounting for 24 percent of the total.

The government saved more than 5,000 yuan ($820) per car in a year. The whole city saved more than 42 million yuan in automobile expenses in just one year.

The obvious effects let the public see the first possible solution to this long-term problem.

Officials' automobiles constitute an important part of the government's image. If Guangzhou government's practices can be copied across the country, it will not only save a tremendous amount of money, but also improve the government's image in the eyes of the public.

The government should also empower the public with their due supervision rights to help solve the problem. If all of the people are mobilized to take action, civil servants would not have the audacity to use government cars for private purposes.