‘Can We Report This?’: Gyeonggi Province Publishes Casebook of Violation Reports Related to Public Interest in Environmental Pollution

Gyeonggi Province has published a casebook to encourage public interest in and resident reports of environmental violations.

Global interest in the environment continues to climb. Korea is also striving for environmental conservation and continues to promote the importance of cooperation by members of the public.

With public interest in environmental protection increasing, there has been a wave of efforts to protect the environment in various individual lifestyle spheres.

And to further encourage public interest in such efforts, Gyeonggi Province has published an online casebook that presents a collection of violations relating to environmental protection.

The importance of environmental protection is being promoted even more intensely in tandem with ‘World Environment Day’ on June 5. The casebook itself focuses on environmental cases so as to assist members of the public when they make relevant reports.

@Gyeonggi Province

Violations subject to reporting encompass all acts of environmental harm in the public domain. This includes the discharge of industrial wastewater, pollution of a location designated as a marine protection zone, prohibited acts of pollution in provincial parks, negligence in the management of building wastes, and more. 

The nation is striving to manage public facilities, but the government requires close cooperation with members of the public living in local communities. The aim is to create a clean environment with voluntary public assistance and monitoring.

@Gyeonggi Province

Once a report by a member of the public is confirmed, administrative and judicial actions are taken. Afterwards, that member of the public can receive a monetary reward. Last year, there was a case in which a resident reported the act of wastewater discharge from a company after dilution and intentional non-operation of a discharge meter in Gyeonggi Province; the resident received a monetary reward of KRW 18 million. 

Gyeonggi Province is operating an anonymous reporting system through attorney representation so as to protect members of the public from possible repercussions following the report. Residents can make a report under the name of an attorney so as to preserve their anonymity; the expenses for reporting are covered by Gyeonggi Province.

The casebook can be easily accessed online and is available for everyone through the Gyeonggi Public Interest Reporting Hotline website (hotline.gg.go.kr) and the Gyeonggi e-Book website (ebook.gg.go.kr).

Aside from the environmental casebook, Gyeonggi Province is also planning to publish a casebook on corruption among public servants and institutions so as to help improve understanding and encourage reporting by members of the public.

Public environmental protection activities in which of Gyeonggi Province participate directly.

The policies of Gyeonggi Province are expected to create a cleaner and safer environment.