Deputy mayors from Shifang in Sichuan Province and Longnan in Gansu Province told the Beijing Morning Post during a separate telephone interview that food and tents are the most needed supplies in both cities.

Shifang: grain reserve can feed local population for just five days

"Right now, victims in Shifang are temporarily resettled with guaranteed supply of drinking water and daily necessities," said Li Zhuo, deputy mayor of Shifang. But the city needs over 30 tons of food everyday, but the grain in storage is only good for 5 days at most.

"In addition, we need 40,000 more tents. And for post-reconstruction work we're going to require large amounts of raw materials such as bricks, sandstone and cement," Li added.

Longnan: 70,000 tents needed now

The terrible earthquake also hit about 200 towns in the vicinity of Longnan City, Gansu Province. All houses in these towns collapsed, creating thousands of homeless people.

"Thousands of people lost their houses during the earthquake. We estimate that we need about 100,000 tents, but currently we have no more than 30,000," Deputy Mayor of Longnan Yang Qiuhong said.

"The government has organized the victims to rebuild their homes. During this construction work, we've been short of tricycles, which are used to transport raw materials. Also, lots of schools collapsed during the earthquake; rebuilding schools is a high priority now as well," Yang noted.

The Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau has worked out a plan to support Shifang and Longnan. The first supply of relief materials including 1,626 tents, 88,833 boxes of food and 100 temporary living quarters were dispatched on May 25.

More updates will follow. An official from the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau left for Longnan City yesterday afternoon.

(China.org.cn by Xiang Bin, May 28, 2008)