Sichuan Province, which has been undergoing reconstruction since the devastating earthquake last year, was hit by the downpour lasted from last Tuesday to Friday.

The level of pollution forced three treatment plants in Chengdu that get water from Minjiang River to shut down on Friday afternoon.

It meant supplies were cut to most in the east and west of the city, and only restored around 9 a.m.Sunday, a worker of the Chengdu Waterworks Company, was quoted as saying by Monday’s China Daily.

More than 20 trucks were sent by the firm to collect water from other plants to supply residents.

The upper reaches of Minjiang River are vulnerable to geological disasters, said Fan Xiao, an engineer at Sichuan Geology and Mineral Resource and Exploitation Bureau.

Local authorities are now drawing up new emergency water shortage plans, which will include a measure to take water from Beisha River in Dujiangyan.

Beichuan county, one of the areas worst-hit by the May 12 quake last year, also suffered flooding and mudslides from the storm.

More than 43,600 people from 50 villages were affected, costing the authorities an estimated 100 million yuan (14.6 million U.S. dollars).

Some of the buildings in the zone now regarded as a “Beichuan earthquake relic” and the newly built road to Tangjiashan “quake lake” were also destroyed by the landslides.

Source:Xinhua

Rain pours new misery on areas in SW China – People’s Daily Online.

BEIJING, June 25 2009

(Xinhua) — Poor farmers in areas of southwest China struck by a massive earthquake in May 2008 face financial problems in rebuilding their homes, an official said here Wednesday.

Zhang Ping, minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country’s top economic planning body, said some impoverished people could not get bank loans to rebuild their homes because of their tough economic situation and limited incomes.

Zhang’s remarks came in a report to the ninth session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature.

He reported on reconstruction work after the May 12, magnitude-8.0 earthquake in southwestern Sichuan Province, which left more than 87,000 people dead or missing.

The official called for forceful measures to ensure the rebuilding of homes for poverty-stricken households and aid to address their financial problems, material and labor shortages.

The reconstruction of rural houses should be completed by the end of the year so rural residents could spend the new year in “warm new houses,” he said.

Other problems found were slow progress in the reconstruction of urban homes, reduced financing capacity of rural financial institutions for small and medium-sized enterprises and shortages of building materials and technical support for the quake-hit region, according to Zhang.

He urged increased attention to the psychological problems of quake survivors. Despite counseling, government officials and residents still had psychological problems after having lost relatives and property and then facing heavy life and work pressures, he said.

Two government officials in quake-battered Beichuan County of Sichuan Province committed suicide after the disaster. Feng Xiang,33, and Dong Yufei, 40, both hanged themselves after losing family members. And in Mianyang City, a third official, He Zonghua, 40, jumped to his death from a hotel.

According to a survey by Sichuan University, more than 400,000 people in the quake zone are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). More than 40,000 of those with PTSD are at risk of suicide, said Zhang Wei, deputy president of the West China Hospital under Sichuan University.

The Sichuan provincial government dispatched medical groups last year to 10 of the worst-hit counties to relieve officials’ mental stress and ensure every official took holidays. The government also spent money to improve the working and living conditions of the officials.

However, experts admitted China lacked mental health professionals and staff trained in handling PTSD.

Zhang from the NDRC said long-term psychological assistance would be targeted at the population suffering from psychological disorders.

The government would send experienced professionals to offer counseling for local people and provide training for medical staff in the quake area for at least half a year, according to the official.

Staff at grassroots medical institutions in the quake zone were also expected to finish a year of study on psychological treatment in other provinces on rotation, he said.

At the NPC meeting, Zhang told legislators that China had invested more than 360 billion yuan (52.7 billion U.S. dollars) in reconstruction projects in the area as of the end of April.

Reconstruction was under way for nearly 2,800 schools and more than 1,500 medical institutions, accounting for more than 75 percent and 60 percent, respectively, of the total.

Nearly 70 percent of students in the quake zone had moved into permanent school buildings and the percentage would rise to 95 by the end of this year, according to the official.

All students in the region would be back in permanent school buildings next March, he said.

Editor: Zhang Ning | Source: Xinhua

中国地震灾区农民为重建家园而努力

北京，2009年6月25日

（新华社）—中国西南部严重受地震影响的不幸农民们，面临着重建家园的财务困难，一位官员在星期三这样说道。
张平，中国发改委主任，国家最高经济规划机构，说一些穷困的…

详见第205页

]]> http://disaster-relief-shelters.org/2009/07/01/farmers-in-china-quake-zone-struggle-for-funds-to-rebuild-homes/feed/ 0 http://disaster-relief-shelters.org/2009/07/01/quake-victims-still-waiting-for-decent-roofs/ http://disaster-relief-shelters.org/2009/07/01/quake-victims-still-waiting-for-decent-roofs/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:15:59 +0000 admin http://disaster-relief-shelters.org/?p=200 2009-06-25 09:28By Tan Yingzi (China Daily)

Ever since her house was destroyed in the massive earthquake last year, Wang Xianqiong, who once owned a beauty salon in Beichuan county, Sichuan province, has been staying in a makeshift shelter with her disabled husband and college-going son.

Though the government has promised its share in helping quake victims build or buy new houses, Wang has no idea when she will be able to start her life afresh in a decent flat.

Beichuan, one of the worst hit areas by the 8.0-magnitude quake, started rebuilding its city on a new site in May. The government has said its residents could possibly move into the new city by May next year.

But houses in the city, even though at subsidized rates, are too expensive for Wang to afford.

“I am earning a living for my family running a small hair salon in the temporary settlement area now. We barely manage to make enough to feed ourselves. How can I save money to buy a flat?” the 41 year old questioned.

Despite efforts and massive investments, the Chinese government is still facing several difficulties in its post-quake reconstruction projects, according a State Council report released yesterday.

The poor in urban and rural areas have inadequate access to financial resources to rebuild their homes and there is still a shortage of construction material, the report said.

As part of the country’s 4 trillion yuan economic stimulus package, the central government has poured nearly 155 billion yuan ($22.7 billion), including $1.8 billion from overseas loans, into reconstruction work.

By the end of April, Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces had completed a total of 9,400 projects, mainly in housing, infrastructure, public services, industry and city reconstruction, and kicked off another 21,000 projects.

“The average price for commercial residential housing in Beichuan before the earthquake was about 1,400 yuan per sq m,” Wang said.

The government has promised to give a 32,000-yuan housing subsidy to families of three, plus a 50,000-yuan low-interest loan.

For Wang and others like her, it’s still nowhere close to enough.

“No matter how much the government lowers the prices of the flats, I still have no money to buy one,” Wang said.

Wang’s story is similar to those of hundreds of people in Beichuan county, where most businesses were destroyed, leaving many without means of earning an income.

Wang, her disabled husband and son might have been fortunate enough to survive the disaster, which killed more than 70,000 people, but like most, they have nothing left.

Her life savings were invested in her beauty salon, which, like her house, became a pile of debris.

Zhang Ping, director of the State Development and Reform Commission, told the 9th session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature yesterday: “We always give first priority to housing projects in our whole reconstruction plan.”

In rural areas, almost all houses threatening to collapse have been reinforced and 76 percent of newly constructed houses are complete, said Zhang.

“But the urban housing projects are lagging behind due to the complicated ownership issue,” he said.

In cities, only about half of the shaky houses have been reinforced and “8.9 percent of planned new houses have been built”, according to the State Council report. It also pointed out that in addition to the 51 worst hit counties, other quake-hit regions have “not received enough reconstruction funds” to rebuild public service facilities, such as schools and hospitals.

地震灾民仍在等待安置房屋

2009-06-25 09:28谭颖子（中国日报）

四川王先琼曾经在北川县拥有一家美发店，自她的房子在去年的大地震中被毁坏至今，她一直和她残废的丈夫和正在读大学儿子住在临时板房里。

虽然政府许诺帮助灾民建造……

详见第200页

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