Sichuan on firmer ground than a year ago

Source: China Daily | 05-12-2009 10:15

BEIJING, May 12 -- People in quake-hit Sichuan province need more help, especially from the government, even if they are holding their heads high despite the sorrow and challenges.

First, the government should give more loans to the poorer farmers for building quake-resistant houses, as the farmers are really penniless. Second, the government should take concrete measures to prevent decline of meat prices as this has dented the profit of pig farmers, as more than half of the farmers in Sichuan are counting on raising pigs to earn money.

These were the two priorities listed by 38-year-old Chen Xueliang and 30-year-old Wang Hua, who have carried on after losing their daughters to last year's quake in the severely-damaged Nanba town in Sichuan's Pingwu county.

One year after the country's worst quake in recent memory, the rebuilding scenes here are unforgettable. There are unending lines of trucks carrying construction material. In the towns, most of the debris has been removed. Roads have been widened. Many new schools and hospitals, which are fast coming up, will be opened later this year. Plenty of new homes have been built. And, some farmers have even moved into their new homes.

During my two-week tour of the affected areas for interviews, I talked mostly to local people, including in the remote mountainous regions. Here, trauma healing is still a novel idea and volunteers are finding it difficult to reach many an area.