Three Gorges Resettlement Costs 28 Billion Yuan

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 ◆ Three Gorges Resettlement Costs 28 Billion Yuan

China has spent 28.7 billion yuan (about 3.5 billion U.S.dollars) of state money on
resettlement to make way for the Three Gorges, hydro-power project,announced an official overseeing the project.

This was revealed Monday by Guo Shuyan, deputy director of Three Gorges Project Construction Committee with the State Council,at the work meeting of the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corp., the undertaker of the project.

By the end of November last year, 418,000 people had been moved out the dam area on the upper-middle reaches of Yangtze River, and 803 industrial and mining companies in the region had been either shut down or relocated elsewhere.

The first-phase reservoir damming of the project to be implemented as planned in June 2003 will bring the dam's water level to 135 meters.

Guo said that resettlement work must be completed in order to keep up with the schedule. A state budget of 7.14 billion yuan has been passed for the project's resettlement work for this year.

Some 143,700 people will be relocated, 4.41 million square meters of floor space built, and 137 companies either moved or closed down, according to this year's resettlement plan.
The reservoir bed clean-up work will be carried out in full,stressed the official at the meeting.

After nine years of construction,107 of the 114 resettlement townships which have been required, have been rebuilt in safe regions.

The Chinese Government has promised the general standard of living of those resettled will be higher than it previously was.