BIZCHINA> Review & Analysis
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BIZCHINA> Review & Analysis
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Debating crowd far from farmers' reality
By Ku Ma (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-04 07:56 But those in charge of demolition insist the entire land requisition is proceeding according to law. According to an order of the municipal government, each farmer should get a compensation of only 18,000 yuan for their land and a 35 sq m apartment. "Our compensation of 52,800 yuan includes that for land and its attachments. It's quite acceptable for most farmers," says Gao Chuanbin, who is in charge of the demolition, emphasizing that land is a collectively owned, and not an individual property. Conceding that no land use permit has been issued to build resettlements, Gao says the farmers will get their apartments, as well as social security, guarantee of medical care and job training. But Lao Zeng says she feels uncertain despite the sweet promises, and thinks the land is the guarantee of her house. "Without land or a house, how can we earn money?" she says. She manages to earn about 500 yuan a month by dividing her house into small rooms and renting them out to migrant workers. Such a low compensation and huge gap in buying and selling prices has attracted a local political adviser's attention. In February, Wang Jianping, Sichuan University's professor of law, proposed at the local people's congress and political consultative conference that Chengdu raise the amount of compensation. "At times, houses in rural areas are demolished even forcefully to meet the deadline, pushing some farmers into poverty. Some farmers can't move back in time, not to mention being able to buy a new flat," Wang has written, based on his investigation in Gaobei village, where there is no clear resettlement plan. "The municipal government has given importance to my suggestion," Wang tells China Daily. "But it hasn't taken any concrete step yet." On the other hand, the Chengdu Construction Commission is celebrating on its website for completing its 2008 demolition mission with part of a 5,737-mu area cleaned up for auction.
Wen Tiejun, professor of rural studies in Renmin University of China, says urbanization and industrialization will inevitably harm farmers' interests under the existing land requisition system. Lao Zeng's predicament is just a small example of what land requisition can do in rural areas. More than 50,000 land dispute cases were recorded in 224 cities and counties of the country from 2003 to March 2008. The increasing number of mass incidents arising out of land disputes has led some scholars reconsidering the rules on the proportion of land in a village or township that can be acquired by local governments, developers and farmers. Qin Hui, a Tsinghua University professor, advocates that farmers should get the true rights to use land, arguing that the 30-year lease for them shouldn't be breached. Denying being a supporter of ill-considered "privatization", Qin emphasizes "farmers should be compensated for their land use rights if land is requisitioned from them". To prevent abuse of land use rights and illegal acquisition, Wang suggests the Ministry of Land and Resources be promoted to a higher level, and that a series of laws about land should be amended. But scholars' debate on land policy seems far away from the millions of farmers like Lao Zeng who are struggling (or have struggled) to get fair compensation. "We know we will not be able to keep our home, but the officials get too much by selling our land. I think we deserve a fairer share," says Lao Zeng. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
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