All 8,000 people who had been living in prefabricated housing, and subsequently tents, in Beichuan since the May 12 quake, have been moved to new temporary housing, local Party committee said on Monday.

The final 12 families moved on Sunday, bringing to an end the relocation process, Wen Gang, secretary of the committee's discipline inspection commission, said.

About 8,000 people had to be moved from their prefabricated homes and into tents in the village of Shengli following a rain-triggered landslide on Sept 28.

The 12 families, comprising 40 people, from the village of Tianping are now living in a kindergarten in the town of Leigu, in a mountainous area of the province that is home to the ethnic Qiang people.

The kindergarten was damaged in the quake but has been renovated to make it livable, Wen said.

Kuang Zhiguo, Party chief of Tianping, said: "Winter has come and it will be very difficult to live in tents. The government will pay for the temporary housing."

His family and two others share a classroom at the kindergarten, which has been divided into three single-room homes with a communal kitchen, he said.

The 8,000 Beichuan residents have been moved to various prefabricated housing settlements, Wen said.

The weather in Sichuan has been unusually rainy and cold, with temperatures 1 C below the average for the time of year, meteorologists have said.

Last month, Wei Hong, Sichuan's vice-governor, said provincial authorities will spend at least 3 trillion yuan (US$440 billion) on reconstruction by 2010.

(China Daily December 4, 2008)