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New homes rise for China quake survivors

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-19 15:40

BEIJING - Earthquake survivors have seen their new permanent residences being built in southwestern Sichuan Province, 100 days after the May 12 disaster, but it's still unclear whether the many buildings that collapsed met quality standards.

"The construction of permanent residences for quake survivors first started in the rural areas," said Huang Yanrong, Sichuan Province vice governor, at a press conference here on Tuesday.

Related readings:  Real challenges for rebuilding quake zone  Post-quake rebuilding draft put online  China earmarks $9.7b for quake relief  Opinion, suggestion sought for post-quake rebuilding

As of August 12, about 175,000 rural permanent residences were under construction and 20,000 had been finished.

Under a provincial government policy issued in June, rural families who lost homes will build permanent new houses themselves under government supervision. Each will receive 20,000 yuan (US$2,900) from the government.

The administration worked out guidelines for quake-resistant designs and provided more than 200 farm house designs, Huang said. "We also supervised the construction projects to make sure they meet quake resistant standards."

Building hasn't started in the cities yet. "We are working on a subsidy policy for urban survivors," she said.

The province has classified urban homeless families into five categories according to their financial status, although it hasn't specified how those categories are determined.

The administration will build low-rent apartments for low-income households and affordable housing units to be sold to families classified as lower-medium income, Yang Hongbo, the provincial construction department director, told the same press conference.

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