National auditors express concern over dam project

Developers of a controversial Jinsha River dam said yesterday their practices were "orderly" in response to a report from the country's top auditors that said there were problems on the site of the world's third-largest hydropower project.

Safety issues emerged after the construction company cut its original building plan by 27 months to speed up the project, the National Audit Office said in its report released yesterday on the 67.5 billion yuan ($9.88 billion) Xiluodu project.

The quickened timeline increased the risks and difficulties and added to the cost, the audit office said.