Overzealous Cadres Overwhelm China Quake Victims

Charities have launched quilt drives and provincial officials have warned that quilts, clothing, and in some cases, even food, is scarce.

Local officials who are over-eager to meet earthquake reconstruction targets are making survival more difficult for victims of a devastating quake in China's Sichuan province earlier this year, state radio said on Friday.

The onset of winter has added to the miseries of survivors of the May 12 quake, millions of whom are still crowded into tents, thin prefabricated houses and make-shift shelters. Charities have launched quilt drives and provincial officials have warned that quilts, clothing, and in some cases, even food, is scarce.

But authorities in Mianyang, one of the areas that was worst-hit by the quake, have demanded most of its people move into permanent housing by the Chinese New Year, which falls in late January, state radio said.

Officials in Mianyang have launched a "tent-clearing" drive, the report said, increasing the crowding for families who had been keeping their belongings outside while they squeezed into temporary rooms.

"It is impossible to live like this," said a villager. "But we were forced to remove the tent today. We have to. If we don't, the government will have somebody remove it by force."

The Sichuan provincial government has said the quake reconstruction could take as long as three years, but local officials may be eager to make a good impression by appearing to meet the target ahead of time.

Some officials have threatened to withhold rebuilding subsidies if new homes aren't built on time, while others have organized rebuilding brigades that are sharply driving up the cost of cement and other materials, the radio report said.

The report cited villagers as saying they would lose subsidies if they do not start construction of their new homes by December. Some said they could lose their homestead and a promised 50,000 yuan ($7,273) in loans.

The increased activity has trebled the price of bricks, and pushed up prices of cement, sand and labour, the radio said. Some migrant workers, who remit money to elderly parents and families in the quake zone, have been summoned back to join the reconstruction work, it said.

"I previously planned to work for another year to earn more money to build my house. Now I don't have much money at home," said a migrant worker.

"I hope we can still get the subsidy and some loans, whether it's a lot or a little, even after the Chinese New Year." ($1=6.875 Yuan)