IX-5 Question: During the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, over 1 million locals have moved out from their hometowns. A move equal to relocation of a whole nation, this has been regarded as the world's toughest dilemma. What measures has the Chinese Government taken to solve this thorny problem?
A: The Three Gorges Dam is the largest waterworks in today's world, involving submergence of 270 towns and townships in 20 counties and districts in Hubei Province and Chongqing Municipality, relocation of over 1,500 enterprises and pulling down of more than 34 million square meters of buildings and structures. A total of 1.13 million locals had to move out from their hometowns, meaning around 100,000 people had to be relocated annually from 1993 to 2005. Such scale of human relocation for the construction of a water project was unprecedented in human history, prompting some to call it the toughest dilemma in the world.
It is true for China, too, that resettling more than 1 million people is a gigantic project without available successful experience to learn from. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, more then 80,000 reservoirs had been built, leading to resettlement of a mere 10 million people. Previously, migrants used to receive a one off lump sum compensation from the government, a practice not only dragging down the living standards of those resettled but also posing negative effects on social stability.
In order to avoid these problems, the government devoted more than 60 billion yuan for resettlement out of the 180 billion yuan budget for the whole Three Gorges Project and adopted a policy for development-oriented relocation. Under this policy, not only individual relocatees receive compensations for their properties lost during reservoir construction but newly-built cities, towns and rural neighborhoods for migrants are given subsidies for local development. There has also been a shift from a policy of settling rural migrants to uphill and nearby sites within the immediate reservoir area to one of encouraging them to move to more distant resettlement sites. So far, 125,000 rural migrants have been encouraged to move to resettlement sites in 10 coastal and riverine provinces and municipalities, as well as rural areas with good conditions in Sichuan Province. This was designed to prevent overuse of land resources in the Three Gorges reservoir area, to benefit the local eco-environmental conservation.
According to statistics, up to March 2006, 51.5 billion yuan had been put in place for the resettlement program, 42.45 million square meters of buildings and structures had been built, and more than 1.12 million people relocated.
In addition, all provincial governments across the country and central government agencies have been encouraged to provide support for the economic and social development in the Three Gorges reservoir area in a variety of ways. Up to June 2005, the area had attracted 21 billion yuan of investment from around the country, with more than 2,000 cooperative projects. These have not only contributed to the smooth progressing of the Three Gorges Project, but also promoted the economic development of Chongqing Municipality and the Three Gorges area as a whole. In the newly-built resettlement sites, living standards of migrants have greatly improved in terms of housing conditions, living environment, education, medical care, shopping, and telecom service.
In May 2006, the Chinese Government formulated a new policy to strengthen post-relocation support for migrants. According to the policy, within the 20 years after completion of the relocation project, a special fund will be taken from the profits gained from electricity generated by the reservoir, to help those resettled because of the project. Thus, migrants from the Three Gorges area will enjoy the tangible benefits of the project that they sacrificed so much for.
(China.org.cn)