Latest death associated with enforced demolition in China is another stain on industry.
This industry of ours has a lot with which to contend. For all the skill that goes into the safe deconstruction of any building, our business is seen as destructive, noisy, dusty and somehow uncontrolled. This is an image that is not helped by the frightful safety record in some countries around the world where, sadly, site deaths are still perceived as “par for the course”.
However, the enforced demolition of homes and properties in China has placed upon our global industry a lasting stain that may never be erased.
We have already seen one person die having set themselves on fire in protest against unlawful demolition. We have received reports of intimidation, threats and beatings at the hands of Chinese demolition contractors that are refusing to let a few local residents stand between them and their next pay cheque. And now comes news that an elderly woman has died having been beaten and then buried alive for daring to stand in the way of what the Chinese government would have us believe is progress.
Of course, the words that you are currently reading will make little impact upon the people of China. This website is, sadly, not published in any Chinese language or dialect and, given my comments above, it would be censored immediately by a Chinese government that still picks and chooses what its citizens can and cannot read.
But let me make one thing absolutely clear. In the future, whenever I mention the term “global demolition industry”, I am excluding the kind of work currently being undertaken against the wishes of the Chinese people.
This is not the demolition industry I recognise or know, nor is it one with which I would want to be associated.
