CHINA> National
|
CHINA> National
|
|
Quake survivors have great expectations for stimulus funds
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-11-21 22:57 DUJIANGYAN - The contrast is stark when Gou Xiuqiong, an earthquake survivor who makes a living as a hotel cleaner here, talks about her difficult present and her hopes for the future. One day recently, Gou sat on a long bench on the hotel lawn. About 100 m away stood a row of deserted restaurants that were shattered by the May 12 quake, some with roofs collapsing. The psychological trauma of the quake, which killed 3,091 people and injured 10,560 just in Dujianyan, was an invisible presence. But the 28-year-old Gou was upbeat as she talked about life ahead. "The reconstruction process convinces me life will get better," said Gou. She cleans rooms at the Two-King Temple Hotel, named after the legendary Li Bing and his son, who built the Dujianyan conservancy in 256 BC. Gou said she has two goals: a new home and her own restaurant, both of which would be facilitated by entitlements. These have taken on tangible shape with local and central government reconstruction and domestic demand expansion moves, which will inject financial support. Sichuan counts cost of rebuilding Sichuan Province will need 1.67 trillion yuan to rebuild from the quake, according to Vice Governor Huang Xiaoxiang. That money would help provide residences for 4.45 million households. On November 12, the national government announced several steps, including approval of infrastructure projects and a further rise in export rebates, in a wide-ranging attempt to stimulate the economy and ease the impact of the global financial crisis. These measures followed the November 9 announcement of an economic stimulus package of 4 trillion yuan. As part of that package, the government said it would spend 300 billion yuan on the rebuilding of 51 hard-hit areas in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. There are also provincial provisions for subsidized interest on loans in severely damaged areas. |
