After a nationwide teleconference, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has launched a series of urgent temporary policies for people living in quake affected areas. The top priority is to offer tents or simple flat houses to accommodate the tens of thousands of homeless people.

After a nationwide teleconference, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has launched a series of urgent temporary policies for people living in quake affected areas.

The policy covers southwestern Sichuan province, Chongqing municipality, Yunnan province and northwestern Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. The focus is to offer help to the disabled, orphans, the elderly, and those who lost their homes, jobs and families in the disaster. The ministry say that a large number of people may have to leave their hometowns and to rebuild their homes at other places.

Luo Pingfei, Vice Minister of Ministry of Civil Affairs said "Now another 900,000 tents are being made. 240,000 have reached Chengdu. Furthermore, one million rooms of the simple flat house are being built. We still need help from society to support us to solve the top priority of offering people places to live in quake-hit areas."

(CCTV May 22, 2008)