| Spring Festival tale of two neighbors in Three Gorges Dam area | ||||
| 作者：zpgm | 发布时间：07-10-24 | 浏览次数：905 | [大 中 小] | |
He hoped to have a "happier" Lunar New Year, the most important festival for Chinese people, and enjoy "luxurious" new year eve dinner like his fellow villagers next year if he could be covered by a governmental allowance. Huang lives in Pingyuan, a village in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality near the Three Gorges Project on the middle reaches of China's longest river, the Yangtze. The massive water control project will have seen at least 1.4 million people relocated when completed. Huang's house, a crumbling bungalow made from sun-dried mud bricks, lies just outside the cut-off point for relocation. However, his farmland does not. As a result, he is not entitled to a new house or the 600-yuan annual subsidy that the government offers those who had to leave their homes. Green clumps of moss smother the tiles on the roof of Huang's house. But, he says, he will "stay here until it collapses". All he can do is to watch the majority of his farmland be submerged in rising water. "If I could be supported with 600 yuan, my life would be a little better," said Huang. "Before the Three Gorges Project, my family had more land and I could sell more crops for money, but now the grain on my land can only feed my wife and myself," he said. In addition, Huang had to fork out thousands of yuan last year on medical treatment for his wife, who suffered Hepatitis-B. According to local government statistics, the village had 121 people in 34 families, of whom 98 people were classified as members of the migrant population and compensated. Before the Three Gorges Project, villagers had 1.35 mu of farmland each but after the land reshuffle, each is allowed 0.35 mu. Huang insists that he was supposed to be compensated for his lost farmland, but had not received a cent so far. Liu Huazhen, a 73-year-old woman living in the same village, confirmed Huang's claim. A local official surnamed Lan, from Qingxi township, admitted that they had not received compensation. He said that the money set aside for farmland compensation had been spent on "developing village infrastructure". "The villagers have benefited from facilities such as roads," claimed Lan. "I wish farmers like me could be given government allowances for basic livelihood. Then, I could have a happier Spring Festival next year," Huang said. A stone's throw away from Huang's house, 70-year-old Zhang Guomin is living in what Huang describes as "luxury". Zhang was relocated as a result of the dam construction and now lives in a two-storey building which gleams from the sun beating down on ceramic white tiles. "My life has become easier since we moved into the new house," he said. "I used to save a lot of firewood and well water before the Spring Festival but now the house has methane gas and tap water. And now we don't have to go outside at midnight because we have a toilet," he said. Zhang has four children, all migrant workers in southern Guangdong and Fujian provinces, where economies are stronger and job opportunities more plentiful. He paid 50,000 yuan for his new house - 30,000 yuan of his personal savings and 20,000 yuan was donated by his sons. Local government compensation would not have covered the expense. Zhang receives a 600-yuan (about 77 US dollars) subsidy from the local government each year for his relocation but the majority of his income comes from his children. His life, he says, is "more or less like an urban resident". Half an hour's drive from Pingyuan lies a new migrant community called Dongjiawan, made up of hundreds of old residents moved from the old town of Fuling. It is home to 65-year-old retired government official, Dai Xichen. Dai and his family had a five-storey building in downtown Fuling before the dam was built. His family has had mixed fortunes since their move. "My sons and daughters are doing well apart from my second son," he said. "Before the building was torn down, he could make 1000 yuan a month by renting a room of his apartment and selling vegetables in the shop front," said Dai. "But after we moved onto the edge of the city, we knew he could no longer keep the business going," said Dai. "He now has a temporary cigarette stand in the downtown area and with some government subsidy, his family makes 600 yuan a month. But this is not enough for his daughter to go to school," he said. "Generally, we have happier Spring Festivals year after year as the country is developing fast but there remains a significant problem," said Dai. China's National Audit Office reported that 272 million yuan of funds allocated to the resettlement of residents displaced by the Three Gorges project in 2004 and 2005 had been misappropriated by the local governments of Hubei Province and Chongqing Municipality. The central authorities have ordered Hubei and Chongqing governments to recover the misused funds as soon as possible. "I know from my former position and from reading government regulations that the central government has allocated a great deal of money to help us so I hope the local government can be considerate enough to let us know how the money is being spent," Dai said. editor： 龙华 |
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