Three Gorges Dam migration ends, transition ongoing

Three Gorges Dam migration ends, transition ongoing
Xinhua News
30 January 2013

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-01/30/c_132139016.htm

CHONGQING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Chongqing municipal government has
removed a report on migration efforts related to the Three Gorges Dam
from the ongoing legislative session's review process, marking the end
of the nation's largest migration project.

Huang Qifan, mayor of Chongqing, said at the fourth Chongqing municipal
People's Congress that the removal indicates that the government has
reprioritized the migration efforts.

"Migration efforts involving millions of people have nearly been
completed. Poverty, unemployment and environmental hazards are now at
the top of the agenda," Huang said.

Around 1.1 million people have been relocated since 1993 to make way for
the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower project.

The State Council released regulations pertaining to the migration in
1993, stressing that migrants should be treated appropriately.

A work report on the migration efforts was sent to Chongqing's annual
legislative meeting for 17 successive years, according to Wang Xiangang,
deputy of the Chongqing People's Congress and chief of the Chongqing
Migration Bureau.

Wang said the migration efforts have been successful, with many
resettled migrants seeing their living conditions improve after being
relocated.

But criticism has still surfaced, as pollution and geological threats
resulting from rising waters have strained brittle slopes and triggered
landslides, threatening residents' lives and security.

Wang said the government underestimated the potential damage brought
about by rapid urbanization, erosion and household pollutants that have
ended up in the dam's reservoir.

"The economy of the populous reservoir area, which already had poor
ecology before the dam was built in 1994, depends on agriculture and
industry," says Pu Yongjian, a professor at the economics and management
department of Chongqing University.

"Manufacturers have been moved out of the area over environmental
concerns, forcing the area's economic development to start almost from
scratch," Pu said.

To protect the environment, the government has promised to find a
lasting solution for geological hazards around the dam and deal with a
backlog of social problems that have plagued migrants.

"Problems left over from migration and resettlement must be dealt with
in detail. Migrants' hardships in work and life must be solved," Wang said.

The government has closed more than 1,600 factories while moving 190,000
people elsewhere. So far, 52.9 billion yuan (4.6 billion U.S. dollars)
has been earmarked to subsidize migration efforts.

"Geological hazards have been brought under control and no major losses
of life or injuries have been caused by any major geological disasters
in the Three Gorges Dam area," Wang said.

"Although the relocation is almost at an end, there is still a long way
to go. Preserving the local ecology and giving migrants a better life is
easier said than done," Pu said.

Editor: Tang Danlu
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