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Monday, 9 February 2009
Thousands of farmers to be uprooted again
Tens of thousands of farmers displaced to make way for the vast Three Gorges Dam will be resettled again under a plan issued yesterday that vows to address poverty, unemployment and environmental hazards in the area.
Reuters in Beijing and Staff Reporter 6 February 2009
Tens of thousands of farmers displaced to make way for the vast Three Gorges Dam will be resettled again under a plan issued yesterday that vows to address poverty, unemployment and environmental hazards in the area.
The “co-ordinated urban-rural” plan, for sprawling Chongqing municipality in the southwest, also covers the dam area, which has been troubled by social unrest, algae, and landslides and earthquakes triggered by the rising reservoir.
The document approved by the State Council, or cabinet, and detailed on the central government’s website (www.gov.cn) , did not say how many of some 1.4 million residents moved in the past decade to make way for the dam would have to move again, or where they would go.
But it acknowledged that previous plans to find homes for many residents on steep slopes near the dam had fallen short, and left people jobless and exposed to earthquakes. Some would have to move to make way for an environmental buffer zone, it said.
The plan also promised to find a lasting solution to geological hazards around the dam and deal with a backlog of social woes that had stoked protests by locals in past years.
“Problems left over from migration and resettlement must be dealt with in detail, helping migrants to solve the real hardships and problems in their work and lives, building a harmonious and stable dam area,” the plan states.
In key areas, hillsides 25 degrees or steeper will be cleared of farming to make way for forests. Migrants resettled to make way for an ecological zone around the lake and to avoid landslips would be given social security support, the plan said.
The Three Gorges Dam plan was controversial long before construction began in 1994. Domestic critics said it would create more problems than it could solve.
The country’s leaders promote it as a triumph of national ingenuity and resolve. But the new plan for Chongqing, which has more than 31 million people, mostly farmers, shows rare candour about the related social and environmental problems.
Environmentalists and farmers welcomed the plan, but expressed concerns that the new round of massive resettlement could become another man-made disaster.
“It is good news for those poor people living in the dam areas, but given the system, which is often unfair and unjust, good things can easily turn bad,” said Wu Dengming, a Chongqing-based environmentalist.
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Thousands of farmers to be uprooted again
Reuters in Beijing and Staff Reporter
6 February 2009
Tens of thousands of farmers displaced to make way for the vast Three Gorges Dam will be resettled again under a plan issued yesterday that vows to address poverty, unemployment and environmental hazards in the area.
The “co-ordinated urban-rural” plan, for sprawling Chongqing municipality in the southwest, also covers the dam area, which has been troubled by social unrest, algae, and landslides and earthquakes triggered by the rising reservoir.
The document approved by the State Council, or cabinet, and detailed on the central government’s website (www.gov.cn) , did not say how many of some 1.4 million residents moved in the past decade to make way for the dam would have to move again, or where they would go.
But it acknowledged that previous plans to find homes for many residents on steep slopes near the dam had fallen short, and left people jobless and exposed to earthquakes. Some would have to move to make way for an environmental buffer zone, it said.
The plan also promised to find a lasting solution to geological hazards around the dam and deal with a backlog of social woes that had stoked protests by locals in past years.
“Problems left over from migration and resettlement must be dealt with in detail, helping migrants to solve the real hardships and problems in their work and lives, building a harmonious and stable dam area,” the plan states.
In key areas, hillsides 25 degrees or steeper will be cleared of farming to make way for forests. Migrants resettled to make way for an ecological zone around the lake and to avoid landslips would be given social security support, the plan said.
The Three Gorges Dam plan was controversial long before construction began in 1994. Domestic critics said it would create more problems than it could solve.
The country’s leaders promote it as a triumph of national ingenuity and resolve. But the new plan for Chongqing, which has more than 31 million people, mostly farmers, shows rare candour about the related social and environmental problems.
Environmentalists and farmers welcomed the plan, but expressed concerns that the new round of massive resettlement could become another man-made disaster.
“It is good news for those poor people living in the dam areas, but given the system, which is often unfair and unjust, good things can easily turn bad,” said Wu Dengming, a Chongqing-based environmentalist.
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