Food donated to a Chinese city under COVID-19 lockdown in China’s Hubei Province is not being distributed to those who really need them, and many people have turned to social media to express their anger over the situation.
After several weeks of lockdown due to the deadly coronavirus spreading, hospitals, quarantine centers, and households started to experience food shortages. But more than a thousand tons of vegetables donated by Guizhou Province to Ezhou City in Hubei Province, was stolen by authorities or left rotting in warehouses.
Only a small amount of goods went to the markets, where they’re being sold to the public at high prices, according to various posts on Chinese social media.
Police and Their Families Have ‘More Than They Can Eat’
A family member of an employee of the Phoenix Police Station in Echeng District posted a video on social media on Feb. 18, in which she showed the donations her family received from the police station, including four boxes of fruits, lots of vegetables, and eggs. The woman said it’s “more than they can eat,” and so she took three boxes of goods to her parents’ home.
Another Wechat user, who is an official’s wife, posted a list of supplies gifted to her family, including six barrels of oil, a bag of cherry tomatoes, a bag of vegetables, four bags of rice, and hundreds of face masks. The cherry tomatoes came from an employee of the Phoenix Police Station. All the supplies came from the Guizhou donation. She wrote, “Blame your husband for not being an official!”
Many Locals Go Hungry While Food Rots
A large amount of food donations were seen rotting in warehouses, instead of being distributed to the many residents that desperately need them.