The Disaster Relief and Emergency Command Center under the State
Council, China's Cabinet, ordered related local governments on
Monday to do a good job in land management for reconstruction and
in geological services for areas affected by the recent extreme
winter weather.
For land used currently for disaster relief and restoration of
housing, transport and telecom facilities, approval procedures may
be exempted when the interim users return related land to the
original users upon completion of relief and restoration
efforts.
For land used permanently for restoration purposes, builders
should go through approval procedures for land use within six
months after damaged facilities are reconstructed.
The emergency command center also ordered geological services
should be enhanced for housing restoration in both urban and rural
areas prone to geological disasters.
Earlier reports said the Ministry of Finance had allocated nine
billion yuan (1.25 billion U.S. dollars) over the past month for
relief in areas affected by the severe winter weather.
Vice Minister of Civil Affairs Li Liguo said late last week the
government would likely spend more on the relief, without revealing
the scale of the further financial support.
His ministry would work with commerce, agriculture and health
ministries to ensure residents in disaster-stricken areas have
sufficient food, clothing and shelter and adequate medical
services. Primary and middle school education should be
guaranteed.
Li said his ministry had arranged a raise in subsistence
allowances for low-income earners in urban areas. It would
formulate reconstruction schemes for the disaster-hit areas in
March and complete restoration work on collapsed housing before the
end of June.
Extreme weather has left 107 people dead and eight missing.
Losses were set at about 111.1 billion yuan. In all, 21 provinces,
autonomous regions and municipalities were affected. To date, about
1.5 million people have been relocated, and 1.93 million were left
stranded before finding transport.
The freak weather affected almost 24.4 million hectares of
farmland and 18.6 million hectares of forests, leading to the
collapse of about 354,000 houses.
(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2008)