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"One-yuan apartments" for migrant workers
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-07-28 14:05 "The apartment has a color TV, a telephone, and
central heating, and we can even take hot water baths in it," Li Fuxiang, a
forty-year-old dock worker, said on his bed.
The apartment building he lives is named "Apartment for Blue Collars," which
the Tianjin Port rented for its dock workers, mainly migrant workers from rural
areas.
"We used to live near the dock. Now it's much better, and it costs only one
yuan (about 0.125 dollar) a day," he said.
Altogether there are three such apartment buildings, one is a 19-storey
high-rise and the other two are six-storey buildings, with a total floor space
of more than 40,000 square meters. They have 630 rooms which give shelter to
4,800 workers. The high-rise has an elevator.
With an electric fan swaying beside his bed, Li sleep soundly when a group of
journalists visited his dormitory on Wednesday afternoon. "I'll work from 8:00
p.m. today to 8:a.m. the next morning. Then I'll take a rest for 24 hours," he
said.
"The place where I lived before was very dirty and noisy. Sometimes we could
not have a good sleep," Li said.
Agriculture only contributes to 15 percent to China's GDP while the
population of rural people accounts for 60 percent of the country's population.
Large amounts of surplus rural people seek new jobs in cities, where they are
called "migrant workers."
At present, about 113 million migrant workers serve in the fields of
construction, processing, manufacturing and tertiary trade. Most of them work
and live in poor conditions with poor incomes.
"I dare say the living condition of our workers is better than most other
migrant workers," said Yu Rumin, president of the Tianjin Port (Group) Co. Ltd.
As the Tianjin Port provides a subsidy of 200 yuan for a worker, each pays
only 30 yuan per month for the dormitory, except for water and electricity
charges. The company also arranged shuttle buses from the apartment buildings to
the docks.
Tianjin Port is one of the world's top ten ports. Its overall economic
results ranks first among China's coastal ports.
Yu said: "Migrant workers are also members of the port and they have made a
great contribution to the port."
According to a new plan made by the Ministry of Construction, the housing
problem for migrant workers has been placed on the agenda of the
ministry.
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