Chapter 2775: Old Friend Hackett

The emergency municipal committee standing committee meeting of Baozhou City was convened overnight that night. This matter was a big deal for Baozhou City. How to control public opinion was very important for any local party committee and government.

If public opinion could not be effectively controlled, it would be unfavorable for all members of the leadership team. Therefore, at this moment, they were all grasshoppers on the same rope.

In order to control this public opinion, this standing committee meeting was also noisy. Except for the Baozhou City Military Sub-district Political Commissar Xiang Dayi, who had a relatively transcendent status and had been silent, just smoking there, the other standing committee members argued endlessly.

This was also because online public opinion was a new thing for everyone, and no one had any experience in dealing with it. Moreover, so many reporters were still waiting at the municipal committee guesthouse. How to send these reporters away? Also, what if the provincial level knew the news?

These matters were simply a thousand threads. If any of them were not handled well, it would be unimaginable. If things went wrong, they would be punished, and those gold and silver mines would also have to be suspended for rectification, and then their losses would be huge.

Being punished meant at least not being promoted for several years. These standing committee members were mostly around 50 years old, and now was the golden age for them to move up. If they stagnated for a few years, their political life would basically be over.

And they basically all had shares in these gold and silver mines. This was also a common phenomenon in resource-based cities. As the saying goes, rely on the mountains to eat from the mountains, rely on the water to eat from the water. In a place like Baozhou, if you have gold and silver mines and don't eat from them, aren't you a fool?

If the gold and silver mines were suspended for rectification, their losses would also be huge.

However, now this matter was like a house leaking from all four sides, but the materials they had on hand to plug the holes were very limited. How easy was it to plug all these holes?

Fear what comes. The endless arguments at the standing committee meeting had not yet reached any result when a phone call from a provincial committee leader came to Shi Fengnian's mobile phone. This leader first sternly asked whether the situation published in the newspaper was true, and then said that the investigation team sent by the provincial committee would arrive in Baozhou tomorrow.

Shi Fengnian hung up the phone with nods and bows. He felt a bit cold in his heart. It seemed that this matter could not be ended well this time.

He informed the other standing committee members of this situation, and the standing committee meeting began to argue again.

The disturbances in Baozhou City did not have any impact on Su Xinghui. The culture, education, and health he was in charge of had nothing to do with this. He was running for funds in the capital very smoothly. His face was not small, and the Ministry of Transport agreed to allocate 30 million RMB to this road.

With this 30 million RMB, plus the one-tenth promised by Cai Jianguo, nearly half of the funds needed for this road had been raised. As for the other money, it was an easy thing to borrow from anyone.

Su Xinghui then met with Hackett again.

Although Hackett was still in China, his position had been promoted by one level. Now he was the General Representative of the World Bank in the Asia-Pacific region, and his office was still in the capital.

This was also because his achievements in the China region over the past few years had been remarkable. The loans issued through his hands had good effects in all aspects, and could be repaid on time, and the benefits were also good. He also maintained good relationships with many big figures in China, so he could be promoted smoothly.

During the more than half a year Su Xinghui was in the capital, Hackett had also met with Su Xinghui several times, drinking tea and alcohol together, but the opportunities for meeting were not too many, because he was now the General Representative of the entire Asia-Pacific region and had to run around in those Asian countries frequently.

This time Su Xinghui returned to the capital, Hackett happened to be in the capital too, so the two had the opportunity to meet.

Upon seeing Su Xinghui, Hackett stretched out his arms to him and smiled, "Hi, Mayor Su, I haven't had time to congratulate you yet, my old friend!"

Su Xinghui also smiled and hugged Hackett. He could indeed be called an old friend with Hackett. Starting from the Pengjiawan Changjiang Bridge, he began to cooperate with Hackett. Hackett gave him a lot of help, and he was also full of respect for this old man.

After the hug, Hackett and Su Xinghui sat down as host and guest. His secretary made tea for Su Xinghui, and Hackett asked, "My old friend, coming to find me this time, is it because you have encountered some difficulties again?"

Su Xinghui smiled and said, "Can't I come to find you if I haven't encountered any difficulties?"

Hackett laughed loudly and said, "I welcome your arrival at any time, but I am a straightforward person and won't beat around the bush. If you have any difficulties, please tell me, and I will do my best to help you solve them."

Su Xinghui nodded and said, "This time I have indeed encountered some difficulties, but this difficulty is not big. It is a small difficulty, and for you, it is just a matter of lifting a finger."

The road to Niutouyu was indeed just a matter of lifting a finger for Hackett. The total investment was only over 100 million, and the World Bank loan was 50%, which was only tens of millions of RMB, which really could not be considered a big project.

However, the reason Su Xinghui found Hackett was, of course, for his construction experts and engineering supervisors. This road was built in Baozhou, and Su Xinghui's influence on Baozhou was still relatively limited, and his control over the project quality was not so handy, so these supervisors were very important.

Moreover, Baozhou City's infrastructure was so poor, and there would be many places to build roads in the future, so this cooperation was also to lay a good foundation for future cooperation.

Hackett said, "Oh, what kind of project is it?"

Su Xinghui then talked about this project. As soon as Hackett heard that it was just a "small" project of over 100 million, he nodded without hesitation and said, "Okay, I happen to have time these days. I will go to your Baozhou City in a few days to see the situation. If the situation is true, I will help you get this loan approved as soon as possible."

Su Xinghui said happily, "Then thank you, Mr. Hackett."

Hackett smiled and said, "Don't be so polite. Aren't we old friends? Helping an old friend is what should be done."

Having settled this matter with Hackett, Su Xinghui felt much more relaxed. Adding the 50% World Bank loan, the funds for this project were basically in place. It was estimated that there was at most a shortage of tens of millions of funds, and this money was easy to find from anywhere.

The most critical thing was the construction experts and supervision experts sent by the World Bank, which guaranteed the quality of this road.

The World Bank's funds had to be controlled by themselves, and absolutely no chaos was allowed. Moreover, if there was a problem with the quality, the World Bank had the right to stop issuing funds, and their supervisors were foreign personnel. If one wanted to handle them, the difficulty would be great.

Anyway, up to now, Su Xinghui had not heard of any incident where World Bank supervisors colluded with the contractor.

After talking with Hackett, Su Xinghui didn't have much to do in the capital, but he still stayed in the capital for two days.

He had already heard about what happened in Baozhou in the capital. This matter was lively enough. First, online public opinion, then newspaper reprints, reporters went to Baozhou for open and secret investigations, and the reporter who went to Yinshan for secret investigation was beaten by the security guards of the Sheshan Gold Mine. Now the provincial committee was going to send an investigation team to Baozhou to investigate.

These situations were reported to him by Xing Guodong and others, and Hou Wenchang, who handled this matter, also informed him of some situations. Although Su Xinghui was in the capital, his sources of information were not few, and many were first-hand news.

Su Xinghui could imagine how overwhelmed these leaders in Baozhou were now, but he had no sympathy for them at all. This was what they deserved.

They had been in power in Baozhou for many years, not only did they not bring any welfare to the people of Baozhou, but they brought deep disasters to the people of Baozhou City. Su Xinghui wished that all these people would be dismissed. Of course, he also knew that this was just a wish, and it was impossible for the time being.

However, the current situation finally exposed this tumor in Baozhou City, and there was still a possibility of solving it slowly.

After staying in the capital for a few days, Su Xinghui returned to Baozhou. He didn't have much leisure time, and there were still many things for him to be busy with. ===== CHAPTER 2777 =====