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Monday, 9 March 2009
‘No words to describe the bitterness in my heart’
Parents of children killed in their Sichuan classrooms during the May 12 earthquake said they had lost all confidence in the provincial government, accusing authorities of trying to hide the real reason for the deaths - shoddy school buildings.
Parents of children killed in their Sichuan classrooms during the May 12 earthquake said they had lost all confidence in the provincial government, accusing authorities of trying to hide the real reason for the deaths - shoddy school buildings.
“I can find no words to describe the bitterness in my heart,” said Huang Xingbi, a 45-year-old housewife whose 18-year-old son died when the Beichuan Middle School collapsed.
“We know it was a big earthquake, but how could the vice-governor say that a school building less than five years old collapsed while other buildings that have been around for 30 years remained intact?”
She said her son had told her that teachers had once ordered students not to jump around in the school because there were cracks in the structure. “How could they say that the poor quality of the building did not kill the students?” Ms. Huang said she believed that if the building had been more sound, her son might have escaped.
She said she was also angry that local cadres were concerned only with preventing them from protesting.
“My husband works in the public hospital and they pressured my husband and said if he still wanted the job, we should be quiet and not seek any trouble,” Ms. Huang said.
She said the families were each given 60,000 yuan (HK$68,000) - 10,000 yuan from an insurance fund and the rest from donations - on the condition that they would not protest, petition or file any lawsuits.
Ms. Huang’s bitterness was echoed by Dong Tianqun, 41, whose 15-year-old daughter died when the Juyuan Middle School in Dujiangyan collapsed. Describing as lies official claims that the earthquake and not the buildings killed the children, Ms. Dong said she found it difficult to accept the finding.
“We just want those responsible for the shoddiness of the buildings punished by law,” she said. “We want to see justice done.”
She and other parents of dead children say they were constantly watched in a government-provided temporary shelter they lived in and warned that they would be thrown into prison if they made a petition.
“We were treated like the criminals in the Lhasa riots” last year.
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‘No words to describe the bitterness in my heart’
Zhuang Pinghui
9 March 2009
Parents of children killed in their Sichuan classrooms during the May 12 earthquake said they had lost all confidence in the provincial government, accusing authorities of trying to hide the real reason for the deaths - shoddy school buildings.
“I can find no words to describe the bitterness in my heart,” said Huang Xingbi, a 45-year-old housewife whose 18-year-old son died when the Beichuan Middle School collapsed.
“We know it was a big earthquake, but how could the vice-governor say that a school building less than five years old collapsed while other buildings that have been around for 30 years remained intact?”
She said her son had told her that teachers had once ordered students not to jump around in the school because there were cracks in the structure. “How could they say that the poor quality of the building did not kill the students?” Ms. Huang said she believed that if the building had been more sound, her son might have escaped.
She said she was also angry that local cadres were concerned only with preventing them from protesting.
“My husband works in the public hospital and they pressured my husband and said if he still wanted the job, we should be quiet and not seek any trouble,” Ms. Huang said.
She said the families were each given 60,000 yuan (HK$68,000) - 10,000 yuan from an insurance fund and the rest from donations - on the condition that they would not protest, petition or file any lawsuits.
Ms. Huang’s bitterness was echoed by Dong Tianqun, 41, whose 15-year-old daughter died when the Juyuan Middle School in Dujiangyan collapsed. Describing as lies official claims that the earthquake and not the buildings killed the children, Ms. Dong said she found it difficult to accept the finding.
“We just want those responsible for the shoddiness of the buildings punished by law,” she said. “We want to see justice done.”
She and other parents of dead children say they were constantly watched in a government-provided temporary shelter they lived in and warned that they would be thrown into prison if they made a petition.
“We were treated like the criminals in the Lhasa riots” last year.
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