China has spent 28.7 billion yuan (about 3.5 billion U.S.dollars) of state money on resettlement to make way for the Three Gorges, hydro-power project, announced an official overseeing the project.

This was revealed Monday by Guo Shuyan, deputy director of Three Gorges Project Construction Committee with the State Council, at the work meeting of the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corp., the undertaker of the project.

By the end of November last year, 418,000 people had been moved out the dam area on the upper-middle reaches of Yangtze River, and 803 industrial and mining companies in the region had been either shut down or relocated elsewhere.

The first-phase reservoir damming of the project to be

implemented as planned in June 2003 will bring the dam's water level to 135 meters.

Resettlement supposed to keep up schedule

Guo said that resettlement work must be completed in order to keep up with the schedule. A state budget of 7.14 billion yuan has been passed for the project's resettlement work for this year.

Some 143,700 people will be relocated, 4.41 million square meters of floor space built, and 137 companies either moved or closed down, according to this year's resettlement plan.

The reservoir bed clean-up work will be carried out in full, stressed the official at the meeting.

After nine years of construction, 107 of the 114 resettlement townships which have been required, have been rebuilt in safe regions.

The Chinese Government has promised the general standard of living of those resettled will be higher than it previously was.

Massive Resettlement out of Three Gorges Basically Ends

More than 100,000 people living in the dam areas of the Three Gorges Project have been resettled in 25 provinces and autonomous regions across China to make way for the construction of the gigantic hydro-electric power project.

Of the total number, 71,129 people have been moved out of areas under the jurisdiction of the Chongqing municipality. They have settled down in new villages built for them in 11 provinces and cities including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui and Hunan. And 14,335 people have been relocated elsewhere in Chongqing. Some 20,000 people have been moved out of dam areas in Hubei Province, said Ou Huishu.

The large scale resettlement has basically been completed. The remaining 12,000 emigrants are expected to move out of Chongqing and Hubei this year.

(People's Daily February 5, 2002)