All highways in Sichuan province have been restored to normal status, and trunk roads to many disaster-hit areas have been opened up after two days of nonstop efforts. The welcome news came at the Ministry of Communications' press briefing May 14 afternoon.

All highways in Sichuan province have been restored to normal status, and trunk roads to many disaster-hit areas have been opened up after two days of nonstop efforts.

Vice Minister Feng Zhenglin said his ministry had put together an emergency relief command team immediately after the quake struck.

Feng said that under direct leadership of the State Council, the team has been working around the clock in directing rescue work, focusing on connecting broken transport links to disaster-hit areas.

Feng explained the emergency measures taken. A Green Passage has been built to ensure fast transport of relief materials. The Sichuan provincial communications department has appropriate 10 million yuan emergency fund, mobilized more than 5,000 personnel, and arranged hundreds of trucks and buses, more than 400 pieces of heavy machinery, and 50 maritime satellites.

Feng Zhenglin, Vice Minister of Communications said "The hard work has had some good results. All the highways in Sichuan province have been restored. Trunk roads in some areas severely hit by the quake, such as Chengdu, Deyang, Mianyang and Ya'an have been opened up for transport. Main roads connecting Sichuan to neighboring regions, like Shaanxi, Gansu and Chongqing, are kept working normally."

Railway Ministry Spokesman Wang Yongping then briefed reporters on the damage to railways.

Wang said many raillines in Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces have been cut off. They include the Baoji-to--Chengdu line, Chengdu-to-Kunming, Tianshui-to-Baoji, Dazhou-to-Chengdu and Yangpingguan-to-Ankang.

The railway ministry responded immediately,organizing a national emergency tele-conference within an hour and asking that no effort should be spared in fighting the disaster.

Wang said in the past two days, tens of thousands of railway personnel have succeeded in restoring most of the broken rail links.

(CCTV May 15, 2008)