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Relief fund supports flood victims
By Wu Chong (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-09-22 02:16
A relief fund of 280 million yuan (US$33.8 million) has been allocated to
deluged areas in Southwest China's Sichuan Province to help flood victims as
torrential rains eased.
Hit by downpours twice this month, eastern Sichuan has reported an economic
loss of more than 7.6 billion yuan (US$920 million) so far, according to the
Sichuan provincial disaster relief office.
"The final figure should be bigger," an official with the office, revealed.
Four cities in eastern Sichuan took the brunt, including Dazhou, Nanchong,
Guang'an and Bazhong, all of which are already poverty-stricken areas.
"We have poured 180,000 yuan (US$21,800) into four seriously flooded villages
to help farmers return to normal life," said Wang Linxian, a government official
of Tongjiang, a county governed by Bazhong.
The county witnessed three deaths in early September because of the heavy
rain, followed by six people missing in a second storm on September 18 to 19.
Most of the work focuses on organizing local people to restore productions
and farmwork.
"Each household is encouraged to resume raising poultry and livestock, or
growing rice and vegetables," he said.
Wang said the funds available can only safeguard basic living conditions of
victims on average, however, a huge amount of money is lacking to restore local
agriculture and industry.
"It may take two or three years for the homeless to live a life as good as
before," he said.
The county, whose farmers saw an average income of 1,300 yuan (US$157) last
year, is currently organizing various forms of donations among local people for
a "self-rescue."
According the provincial government, the State has allocated 73 million yuan
(U$8.8 million) to support local disaster relief.
More subsidies are expected to come from the central government, and
donations from all parts of the country will keep arriving in the next weeks.
Downpours swept eastern Sichuan on September 3 to 6 and returned to some
parts on September 18 to 20, causing serious floods, mountain torrents, mudflows
and landslides.
The summer flood this year has plunged central provinces of Hunan, Hubei and
Henan, western Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region, and eastern Zhejiang Province into a calamity of great economic losses.
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