Rapid reconstruction continues in quake zone

WATCH VIDEO

Source: CCTV.com | 12-26-2008 08:57

Click for more news in World Wide Watch>>

Reconstruction of housing in the earthquake zone continues. The Sichuan construction department says about half of the families made homeless by the May 12th earthquake will have moved into new permanent houses before the Spring Festival.

Sichuan construction department says about half of the  families made homeless by the May 12th earthquake will have  moved into new permanent houses before the Spring Festival.

The houses in Lianhe village, Li County, were severely damaged in the May's massive earthquake in Sichuan Province. The re-building of permanent houses for the farmers there continues at an intense pace in the cold weather.

With groups of families joining to help each other, a new house can be completed within two months. Another family is moving out of their temporary home and into their new house.

A villager in Maoxian said, "The new house is much better than our old ones. We've also been given quilts and padded clothes. We're actually warmer than usual in winter."

Those houses were built strictly according to standards, and used twice amount of cement to improve their capacity to withstand earthquakes.

Construction begun in the summer for people relocated from the devastated Beichuan county is now virtually completed. Villagers are busy decorating their new homes to greet the new year.

Tian Liya, party secretary of Sichuan Construction Department, said, "About 1.7 million families are covered by the Sichuan permanent house re-building project. 490 thousand families have now moved in new houses. And another 360 thousand will move in before Spring Festival."

Authorities have allocated 170 billion yuan for house re-building. Three quarters of the money goes to the building of permanent houses for the farmers, which is expected to completed by the end of next September.

Editor:Zhang Ning