Debating crowd far from farmers' reality

Sitting on a chair in her humble teahouse, now surrounded by piles of rubble and bricks, Lao Zeng (respectful form of address meaning old Zeng), says she misses the days when she used to earn about 1,500 yuan ($219.57) a month to support her family.

"Now it's almost empty," says the 40-plus woman, recalling the days when her business was running successfully. "Before they (officials) began demolishing our village we used to get about 20 customers a day. But after people left (the village), we get fewer and fewer customers."

The demolition, she mentioned, started in June last year. The authorities in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, announced that Lao Zeng's village in southern Wuhou district would be acquired for real estate development. Housing prices in the area have been soaring with villas, supermarkets and stores flooding the landscape.

To promote the overall development of the city and villages, the Chengdu government initiated a program in August 2007 to build 12 "urban villages" of 5.46 million sq m. It has already found investors for 11 "urban villages".

Village and township governments had been leasing out arable land to factories and businesses, or acquiring it to build roads for the past 15 years. And since little money has trickled down to the villagers, Lao Zeng turned the first floor of her two-story house into a simple teahouse some years ago. She had changed half of her home to make some money to run her family, but now both are under threat.

Dai Liangchen, the village chief, says that without any hearing before land requisition, those in charge of the Huaxing Street Office have demolished more than 40 houses of families that have moved out, while about 20 households, including that of Lao Zeng, have opposed the officials' offer.

"We were told that we would get 52,800 yuan per person for vacating the house," Lao Zeng says.

The demolition office has given two options to the villagers. The first is they can return to another village in three years to get a house - with a dwelling area of 42 sq m per family member. And the other is to accept compensation in cash: 1,200 yuan per sq m for the houses to be demolished.

So Lao Zeng's five-member family faces two choices: to get a 210-sq-m house in three years, or a one-time payment.

"The house promise doesn't sound bad. But the problem is that one year has passed, they haven't even dug a hole in the ground for the new buildings that are supposed to house us," she says. "We are afraid that we would become homeless like some people whose land was acquired for development four years ago. But then the compensation money is too little."

Compared with the inexpensive "buying price" of land, housing prices in the area is very high. Some ordinary flats in the neighborhood have already been sold for more than 4,000 yuan per sq m.

The investment promotion center of Huaxing office says the area will be developed as a business district and the local land authority will auction the 200 mu (1 mu = 666.7 sq m) rural land - starting from 3 million yuan per mu, or about 4,500 yuan per sq m after acquiring it.

Although the huge gap in buying and selling prices is not satisfactory for those who have chosen to stay, forcible eviction at nearby Nanqiao village last winter was shocking.

"People there were forced to leave and their houses demolished. A small businessman's car was even smashed," Dai says. He agreed to move out in February under pressure.

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.

Many local newspapers have praised the program, calling it a move to beautify the city, save land and improve farmers' living conditions.

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.

(China Daily 08/04/2009 page9)