A local property development company was fined 687,000 yuan (US$82,771) by the Shanghai Oceanic Administrative Bureau for enclosing marine space to reclaim land without approval, bureau official announced yesterday.
This is the first penalty the local oceanic administration has executed since the national law on marine space administration was enacted two years ago. The company has returned the area.
Huihua real Estate Development Company occupied an area of about 31 hectares of the sea near Luchaogang Harbor in Nanhui District since late 2002. It planned to build a causeway, which was not mentioned in its original land leasing deal with the government, and was therefore against the law.
"Illegal exploration of marine space has happened a lot in recent years. These cases are mostly about unauthorized land reclamation or damage to the marine environment," said Yang Kailiang, an official with the bureau.
Since the law on marine space administration prescribes that both collectives and individuals are able to apply for the use of sea area, some local property developers have looked at such areas for real estate projects.
"Reclamation of land from the sea is very lucrative," said Yang.
In huihua's case, the company bought the inshore area for 1,500 yuan per hectare and sold it for 3 million yuan per hectare after building a causeway around it.