Archive for the ‘Local government’ Category
Friday, February 27th, 2009
浙江在青川设教师奖励基金 奖金每年４万2009-02-18 来源: 新华网
http://hongdou2.gxnews.com.cn/forumview.asp?td=0&topic_id=3351343&pagenum=356
Yesterday afternoon (2-17), officials of Zhejiang Department of Education came to Qingchuan County and set up an incentive fund with 10 million RMB that were donated by individuals and institutions of Zhejiang educational system. This fund is established in the name of the People Education Fund, the interest of which (about 40 thousand) will be used as a financial source of a yearly reward to 10 outstanding teachers who have been teaching in villages of Qingchuan for 10 (or more) years.
It is also known that besides the incentive fund, Zhejiang Province is making a 2-year plan on inviting 150 teachers of Qingchuan to Zhejiang to study and send 150 exceptional teachers to Qingchuan to teach. 5 professional counselors will be dispatched to Qingchuan County to set up 3 counseling offices for Qingchuan Middle School, Qingchuan Secondary School and Qingchuan Primary School respectively.
从今年起，每年有10位在青川县农村教学，且教龄在10年以上的老师，可获得4000元奖金。
昨天下午，浙江省教育厅主要负责人来到青川县，将全省教育系统捐献的100万元，以人民教育基金会的名义，设立教师奖励基金，每年的利息(约4万元)作为奖金，发给10位优秀教师。两年计划
记者从省教育厅了解到，除设立教师奖励基金外，我省还准备在两年半内邀请150名青川教师去浙江学习，派150名浙江优秀教师到青川任教。从下个月开始，我省还将派出5名具有5年以上专业心理辅导经验的教师，给青川县的高中、初中、小学各建立一个心理辅导站。
Tags:counsellor, Department of Education, incentive fund, Qingchuan, school, teacher, Zhejiang
Posted in Education, Investment, Local government, Official news source | No Comments »
Friday, February 27th, 2009
阿坝州启动“地震灾区建筑业农民工免费大培训”
2009年02月18日 来源:阿坝州府
http://www.sc.gov.cn/zwgk/zwdt/szdt/200902/t20090218_586402.shtml
As known from Leading Group Office of Human Recourse, Aba Autonomy will offer training courses to 3500 migrant workers who have been or plan to engage in business of construction work such as masonries, scaffolders, and carpenters, which are urgently needed.
This move could enable the completion of all damaged houses’ reconstruction by Oct. So far, relevant counties have proposed training schemes respectively and the first batch of expenditure has also been distributed.
记者近日从阿坝州人才工作领导小组办公室获悉。2月底前，阿坝州将免费培训3500名拟从事或已从事灾毁房屋重建工程的砌筑、混凝土、钢筋、架子工、木工等急需建筑业农民工。
据了解，为确保阿坝州地震灾区受损农房在9月底前全面完成，阿坝州迅速启动了此项工作。目前各相关县已完成上报培训方案，整个大培训的首批经费也已全部落实到位。
[SQR approx. translation into English]
Tags:Aba Autonomous Prefecture of Tibetan and Qiang nationalities, training course, worker
Posted in Construction and infrastructure, Education, Employment, Enterprise, Infrastructure, Investment, Labour and migration, Local government, Official news source | No Comments »
Friday, February 27th, 2009
地震灾区新房很漂亮 就是有点不“方便”
四川在线 (2009-02-17 06:48:24) 来源：四川在线-华西都市报
In a recent official survey conducted in Pengzhou City, it is odd, and in slightly awkward for the researchers to find that 160 villagers in Tian Shengqiao village had moved back to their temporary housings instead of the new villas which were built with financial aid from government, not long after their cheerful moving-in ceremony on Jan 16th.
It is rather difficult for people who haven’t been to the village in person to understand why these villagers are actually complaining about a new house that worth 90 thousand cost them only 20 thousand per family.
But actually, 3 things which are rather necessary and important to the residents were neglected when it was first designed – toilet, kitchen and yard.
Jingqiao Village is near a well-known temple, Bailu Shang Shu Yuan, which is over hundred years old. The local government has been planning to rebuild a temple and also redevelop the tourist business in this region; hence the rebuilt community was unified – planned and designed by Chengdu City government to make sure it consistent with the temple’s architectural style.
However the unified-planned walls are actually not the best choice for the environment where moisture and frost could gradually damage the buildings. More practically, without the traditional yards, where do the residents air their crops and keep their livestock?
It has been a challenging race for Tang Ming, a resident of Tian Shengqiao Village, to rush to the toilet on the hill side behind his new house at 6’o clock, first thing, every morning. “It’s a really long queue.” he said.
And just like many of his neighbours, Tang Ming and his wife have to walk 500m hill road to a “cookout” at the “community camp site” of Tian Shengqiao village, which is actually a couple of abandoned houses.
No kitchen, no toilet, and no place for livestock or poultry…therefore some villagers moved out before Chinese New Year, only 10 days after moving in. “It (the new house) looks good though.” said Tang, “it’s just really inconvenient to take a 500m walk to go to the toilet.”
“We had only 10 days to plan and design 400 reconstruction sites. It’s too little time for too much work.” Wang Songtao, the chief planner of Chengdu City Planning Bureau, explained to us.
Fortunately, after this survey, Chengdu City government has already started countercheck and feedback collection in general. New plan for 446 reconstruction sites is estimated to be finished before March, and sequentially improvement could be seen soon afterwards.
[SQR approx. translation into English]
彭州市通济镇天生桥村11组，由于统一规划的新房还没来得及修建厨房和厕所，或是缺乏传统的晾晒场地，160位村民在参加完“春节入住仪式”后，又悄悄搬了出来，继续在临时棚户中凑合……
当地政府准备重建这座小有名气的教堂，一座百年老教堂——白鹿上书院,借地震之机开发旅游，金桥村3组作为景区的一部分也将重建为风格统一的欧式洋房。
统一规划的红砖勾缝外墙，不仅很难和构造柱处理协调，也不适宜山里的气候，容易被霜霖和潮湿侵蚀腐化。更实际的是，大家都没了阳台和院子。今后晾晒粮食和衣服怎么办呢？
每天早上6点起床，57岁的唐明发第一件事就是以百米冲刺的速度，跑到自家新房后的那个山坡上抢厕所——“去晚了，人得排队到啥时候？” 没有厨房、厕所，没有晾晒粮食的坝子，没有鸡圈猪舍……于是有些村民还没等到大年三十又干脆搬回了山上的简陋棚户。“新房挺好看，但上厕所来回要跑一公里，太麻烦了！”
7点多，天空已经露出了鱼肚白。唐明发叫上妻子一起做饭。两人翻过崎岖的山坡来到离新家一里外的天生桥村“野炊营地”。借着几间废弃的砖房，村民们夹道砌起了密密麻麻的锅灶，露天摆放着许多水缸、碗盘和瓜菜。“入住”新房一个月了，野炊的日子还要过多久？唐明发有些迷茫。
“当初对灾区农村住房进行重建规划时，只有10天时间，对于全市400多个重建点位来说，时间太短、量太大，任务确实很艰巨。”成都市规划局总规划师王松涛坦言。
成都市委书记李春城日前实地调研后，天生桥村等成都灾区446个住房重建点位已全部开始全面复查，征求农民意见，预计3月前就将完成新的方案，完善重建新村。
Tags:Bailu Shang Shu Yuan, Chengdu City Planning Bureau, kitchen, Pengzhou, temple, Tian Shengqiao, toilet, yard
Posted in Construction and infrastructure, Facilities reconstruction, Home rebuilding, Living conditions, Local government, Official news source | No Comments »
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
China plans 9 billion Yuan aid for the impoverished
2009-01-13 16:18:25
China announced on Tuesday an aid package totaling 9 billion Yuan (1.32 billion U.S. dollars) for the country’s needy people two weeks ahead of its traditional Lunar New Year.
About 74 million Chinese receiving the minimum living allowances or the “five guarantees” (namely food, clothing, medical care, housing and burial expenses provided by local governments to those without relatives or employment), would receive a one-off payment of 100 Yuan if they live in the countryside and 150 Yuan if they live in the cities.
The rural allowance was less than that in urban areas because living costs there were lower.
The payment would be made from the central budget before the Chinese Lunar New Year, one of the most important occasions for family reunion in the country. This year’s Lunar New Year falls on Jan. 26.
By Tuesday, the southwestern province of Sichuan, jolted by the magnitude-8 earthquake in May, allocated 394 million Yuan for clothing and shelter to help the quake-affected people get through the harsh winter. This relief comes in addition to the nationwide aid package.
Chengdu, provincial capital of Sichuan, even handed out 100-yuan-worth shopping coupons to the needy citizens.
The neighboring province of Shaanxi, also jolted during the May earthquake, donated about 850,000 quilts and 110,000 pieces of clothing to its quake-affected people.
The province also granted rural and urban citizens living on the minimum living allowances an extra payment of their monthly minimum living allowances. Funds to cover heating expenses were also given out to those who lived on the minimum living allowances.
“The Chinese government attaches great concern to the livelihood of the disadvantaged population, especially in times of a global financial crisis,” Jiang Li, Vice Minister of the Civil Affairs said.
Local authorities must make sure all needy citizens qualifying for the aid package receive the payment in time, “so that they could enjoy a happy Lunar New Year,” he said.
The average annual net income for rural workers in China is 4,140 Yuan in 2007, against 24,932 Yuan in cities.
At present, about 62 million Chinese receive monthly minimum living allowances from the local governments, while 5.3 million people receive the “five guarantees.”
The average monthly allowance in 2007 was 182.4 Yuan in urban districts per person and 70 Yuan in rural areas. China had increased the monthly minimum living allowance by 15 Yuan in urban districts per person and by 10 Yuan for rural residents at the beginning of 2008.
Tags:aid, Jiang Li, living allowance, Ministry of Civil Affairs, nationwide aid package, poor, Vice Minister of Civil Affairs
Posted in Governance and social policy, Government, Living conditions, Local government, National government, Official news source, Relief | No Comments »
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
四川逾6000名地震伤员需康复医疗
2008年1月13日 新浪网
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2009-01-13/205317036740.shtml
“There are still 6,000 people who need to receive follow-up treatment otherwise hundreds of people will become disabled for the rest of their life.” One director from Sichuan Provincial Party Committee suggested，“Currently, The priority is to take care of those who injured in the quake.”
This is reported from the tenth Sichuan People’s Political Consultative Conference.
More than 10,000 people have become disabled after the quake. Their follow-up treatment is a fairly serious problem at the moment. They need more doctors, therapists, psychologists, medicines, medical facilities, and even hospitals. What’s more, lack of medicine has already affected the outcome of treatment. Some people discharge themselves from hospital ahead of schedule because of the lack of money. An official proposal to support them must be drawn up this year.
[SQR's approx. translation from Chinese to English]
新华网成都1月13日电 (刘大江 吴晓颖)“汶川大地震造成的万余名伤员中，6000多人仍需积极康复医疗，如现在不能及时得到康复医疗，将有数千伤员终身残疾。”民建四川省委有关负责人为此建议，当前应将伤员康复医疗放在首位。
这是记者13日从成都召开的四川省政协第十届二次会议上了解到的。
“5·12”汶川特大地震中因伤致残人员数量庞大，目前有近1万人进入了残疾人员行列，地震伤残人士面临的康复问题尤为突出。现在在康复医疗中存在以下问题：一是医疗康复技术人员不足，专科医师、治疗师匮乏；专业医疗机构、社区康复机构心理康复人才缺乏；二是医疗器材设施未能及时采购，影响部分地震伤员康复医疗效果；三是在伤残人员的后续康复治疗中，2009年的康复费用负担不明确，导致部分伤员因担心医疗自费而提前出院”
Tags:disabled, physiotherapy, Sichuan People's Political Consultative Conference, Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, therapy
Posted in Health care, Local government, Official news source, Physiotherapy / Rehabilitation | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
Villagers begin relocation for new county seat of quake-levelled county
CHENGDU, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) — Land acquisition has started for the construction of the new seat for Beichuan County, the worst-hit area in last year’s 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Sichuan Province, according to local authorities.
More than 10,000 people, mostly farmers, are the first to be relocated as an industrial park began construction Thursday in their hometown. These people will become residents of the new county seat, said Chen Xingchun, Party chief of Beichuan.
The Beichuan-Shandong Industrial Park, which covers two square kilometers, belongs to the first phase of construction.
The land acquisition and relocation for the new county seat are expected to complete within two months.
The relocated will temporarily live with relatives or friends before the new county seat is finished. Each person will be paid 40 yuan (6 U.S. dollars) per month during the transition, he said.
“The local government also provides training so that they can work in factories in the new seat. We must ensure that people can live a stable and rich life in the future,” Chen said.
“The construction of the new county seat will change our living environment and living styles. It is good for us, so we support it,” said Li Gang, a villager of Huangtu Township, part of which will be included into the county seat.
All of the relocated will be given the choice of a free, 35 square-meter home or 36,000 yuan to build their own houses, Chen said.
The former seat of Beichuan, on the juncture of two fault lines, was leveled in the devastating May 12 quake. The quake left more than 69,000 people dead and 374,000 injured. Another 18,000 are missing and millions were left homeless.
The new seat is located to the east of Anchang Township, about 35 km from where it once stood. Officials and planning experts said the new site has good geologic conditions and sufficient usable land. It is far from fault lines.
The new town is expected to have 50,000 residents in three years and expand to more than 9 sq km by 2020 with 85,000 residents.
The first phase of the three-stage construction will cost 19.32 billion yuan. It includes public welfare facilities, government headquarters and housing.
Beichuan, a mountainous area, is the ancestral home of an ethnic group known as the Qiang, who number 300,000. They have their own language, food and performing arts, all of which face extinction as their homes were in the worst-hit parts of the quake zone.
Tags:Anchang, Beichuan, Chen Xingchun, county seat, farmer, Huangtu, land acquisition, party chief, Qiang, relocation, Xinhua news agency
Posted in Agriculture, Construction and infrastructure, Employment, Environment, Ethnic minorities, Facilities reconstruction, Home rebuilding, Infrastructure, Investment, Labour and migration, Living conditions, Local government, Official news source | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
Intel moving assembly operations from Shanghai to Sichuan
The economic downturn has had an enormous impact on the semiconductor sector, forcing companies to take measures to cut costs, said Liu Liang, an analyst at Industrial Securities Co. Ltd. Moving operations from Shanghai, a high-cost city, to a cheaper place like Sichuan might be an effective way to cope with the financial crisis, he said.
In addition, such a move could stimulate the economy in Sichuan, which was still trying to recover from last year’s catastrophic 8.0-magnitude earthquake, Liu said.
The quake uprooted millions of people, leaving many without homes or jobs.
U.S.-based Intel announced the move in a notice posted on its website. The notice said the company would move a Shanghai-based assembly and test factory to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, within 12 months.
The move will mean increased activity in Chengdu and a corresponding workforce reduction in Shanghai, which will affect about 2,000 employees, it said.
The company said it would offer positions to the employees either in the Chengdu factory, a plant in Dalian that is under construction, or other Intel China locations that need experienced staff.
Intel also intends to increase investment in the Dalian factory, to equip it with the latest available advanced microprocessor technology.
The notice said Shanghai would remain its core research and development base in China, as well as its regional headquarters. Other Intel factories and projects would proceed as planned.
The company also said it would increase its registered capital by 110 million U.S. dollars in Intel China Ltd., the company’s investment holding firm in Shanghai.
“The plans are expected to enhance the capacity of the Chengdu plant, optimize manufacturing resources and consolidate Intel’s operations in China,” said Nancy Zhang, director of the public relations group.
“Intel has been very prudent in making decisions. The proposed policy changes demonstrate Intel’s deep-rooted confidence in the Chinese market,” she said.
She said she could not give further details about the planned changes.
Shanghai municipal commission of commerce said Intel has submitted an application to the Ministry of Commerce for recognizing Intel China Ltd. as a national-level headquarters. The company had been ratified by the Shanghai authority as Intel China’s regional headquarters before.
However, Nancy Zhang said she had no information about this.
According to Shanghai’s preferential policy taking effect last December, a foreign company could get a 5-million-yuan (over 731,000 U.S. dollars) subsidy for opening regional headquarters in the city and more than 2.6 million yuan for renting offices in three years. The opening subsidy could rise to 10 million yuan if the headquarters get recognition from the Ministry of Commerce.
Tags:Chengdu, factory, Intel, Ministry of Commerce, Shanghai
Posted in Employment, Enterprise, Finance, work and business, Government, Investment, Labour and migration, Local government, National government, Official news source | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
今年北京安排上千四川人就业 保证住宿办保险
2009年02月02日 来源：法制晚报
http://news.sohu.com/20090202/n262012155.shtml
According to the Beijing City Labour and Social Security Bureau, Beijing City Government is planning to arrange thousands of jobs for Sichuan migrant workers this year.
The Beijing government will collect information of employment suitable for people in the quake-hit area and post relevant advertisement via media to spread such info from various organisations that are recruiting. Meanwhile, an Employment Assistant Office will also be set up in Shifang to improve the communication and coordination between the two cities.
According to the official plan, the Beijing government will organize a recruitment trip to the quake-hit region for work units in Feb, May or Jun, and Sep or Oct. This decision is based on the 3 expected “job-hunting peaks” that are caused by migrant workers, recently graduated students and the period following the busy farming season.
Companies that intend to assistant on such project can register themselves in the District Labor and Social Security Department. In line with relevant official requirement, companies must provide accommodation to employees and monthly wage must be no less than 1000. Also, basic social security should be provided.
The Government will offer certain subsidies (on social insurance and personnel training) to companies that employ people from quake-hit areas. Part of job applicants’ cost on health exam and transport fees will also be covered by some subsidies that are allocated from the Special Employment Fund.
A Management System and follow-up services will keep monitoring further situation of job applicants in terms of their contract-signing, salary and other aspects.
今年，北京市将积极采集适合灾区劳动者需求的空岗信息，并通过媒体发布爱心广告向社会广泛征集各类用人单位招聘岗位提供给受援方。同时，还将继续开通“驻什邡就业援助工作站”，加强两地的工作沟通和协调。
今年北京市还将组织本市用人单位适时前往灾区进行现场招聘。根据受援地春节过后大批求职者外出打工、夏季大量学生毕业、秋收农忙后富余劳动力外出打工的三个时期，今年将分别安排2月份、5或6月份、9或10月份在受援地组织3次大型现场招聘活动，统一组织本市用人单位赴灾区进行现场招聘会。
目前，2月份的招聘活动已进入筹备阶段。企业如果有援助意向可到区县劳动保障部门登记。根据要求，企业必须为灾区务工者提供住宿条件，并保证月工资不低于1000元，为员工缴纳基本社会保险。
企业招用灾区人员来京就业可享受一定的社会保险补贴和培训补贴。灾区人员进京务工的招聘、体检、旅途餐饮费用将由就业专项资金进行一定补贴。
对灾区来京就业人员将进行实名制管理和跟踪服务，对他们在京就业期间的劳动合同签订、工资按时足额发放、社会保险缴纳等情况进行跟踪服务。
Tags:Beijing City Labour and Social Security Bureau, recruitment, salary, Special Employment Fund, work unit
Posted in Agriculture, Employment, Government, Labour and migration, Local government, National government, Official news source | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/27/content_10726131.htm
by Xinhua writer Zhou Yan
CHENGDU, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) — Southwest China’s Sichuan Province said Tuesday it will closely audit the use of post-quake rebuilding funds over the next three to five years and publicly release the results at the end of that period.
The province will carefully scrutinize the raising, distribution and use of funds and supplies, according to a document issued by the general office of the Sichuan provincial government.
“The funds and supplies [audited] will include appropriations by the provincial and local governments, as well as donations,” the notice said.
Central government appropriations will be separately monitored by the Beijing-based National Audit Office. Last year, the central government allocated 70 billion yuan (about 10.1 billion U.S. dollars) for a reconstruction fund for the quake zone.
The document, however, did not mention the controversial purchase of a luxury car in Beichuan, one of the hardest-hit counties. The mountainous county, where about 20,000 people were dead or missing after the massive earthquake, paid 1.1 million yuan including taxes for a luxury Toyota land cruiser. The deal, exposed in a blog, triggered public anger and was termed as “corruption” by some critics. However, Beichuan’s public security Chief Zhang Depu defended the purchase Friday, saying tough transport conditions made high-quality cross-country vehicles necessary in emergencies. He said the land cruiser would become a wireless communications car for emergency use in rescue and disaster relief work.
The provincial document said that auditors in Sichuan will give special attention to key projects and areas such as the rebuilding of homes, schools, hospitals, welfare homes and other public facilities. Auditors will also scrutinize quality control systems in the post-quake rebuilding, it said.
The magnitude-8.0 quake that hit southwest China, including many parts of Sichuan, on May 12 killed more than 69,000 people. It also left nearly 18,000 missing, more than 374,000 injured and millions homeless.
The Sichuan provincial government estimated post-quake rebuilding will cost about 1.6 trillion yuan.
Workers from 20 provinces are involved in the reconstruction effort. Those provinces will allocate at least 1 percent of their annual fiscal revenues into the reconstruction projects for three years.
Tags:audit, corruption, National Audit Office., wireless communications car, Xinhua news agency, Zhang Depu
Posted in Construction and infrastructure, Facilities reconstruction, Government, Home rebuilding, Infrastructure, Investment, Labour and migration, Local government, National government, Official news source, Relief, Transport | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
Asian Development Bank provides China 1st grant to improve disaster management
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/20/content_10689150.htm
MANILA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday said it is providing the bank’s first grant on enhancing disaster management to China, to solve the aftermath of the 8.0-magnititude earthquake which killed more than 80,000 people in southwestern Sichuan province last May.
The funds, totaling 650,000 U.S. dollars, will be used to conduct a full review of the current system and to help China develop a risk management strategy that is coordinated, effective, and more inclusive of the civil society and the private sector, ADB said in a statement.
It is the first time that ADB is providing technical assistance to support the development of public or private partnerships in disaster management, it said, adding that the need for an all-round disaster risk management system in China “has never been greater.”
“In the past there has been no mechanism for those (outside of government) who want to contribute and this TA will help address that concern. It will ultimately reduce the burden on the government,” said Manmohan Parkash, Principal Transport Specialist for ADB’s East Asia Department.
The grant complements an earlier technical assistance grant of 1 million U.S. dollars, approved in May 2008, to provide a preliminary assessment of the earthquake damage and reconstruction needs for Sichuan, the bank said.
Tags:ADB, Asian Development Bank, needs assessment, risk management, Xinhua news agency
Posted in Government, Infrastructure, Investment, Local government, National government, Official news source | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
北川新县城重建将北川中学放在首位
http://news.sohu.com/20090119/n261839355.shtml
2009年01月19日 来源：新华网
As known from relevant department of Beichuan government, the reconstruction of Beichuan Middle School will be “put as top priority” in the general reconstructive scheme of Beichuan. It is estimated to be finished on September 1st, 2010, and used as one of the stationary shelters of the new town along with another 7 schools.
According to the person in charge of relevant department, new Beichuan Middle School, which has received a great deal of attention in the past 7 months, was figured into the list of first batch of projects that focused on public service facilities, such as the County People’s Government, and the County People’s Hospital. These are expected to be accomplished by 2010.
2600 million were invested in the rebuilt of new Beichuan Middle School. The new school, with a capacity of 5000 students, was co-designed by professors from Harvard, MIT, Hong Kong University, Tsinghua University and Tongji University.
记者19日从北川羌族自治县有关部门获悉，新县城异地重建中，将把北川中学放在首位，预计2010年9月1日前率先建成使用，新建的北川中学等7所学校将同时成为新县城固定避难场所。
据北川县有关部门负责人介绍，备受外界关注的北川中学在北川新县城规划方案中占地15公顷，将建成北川新县城的一个标志性建筑。它和县人民政府、县人民医院等公共服务设施一起，被列入首批开建项目，2010年即可完工。
新的北川中学总投资约2.6亿元，由来自哈佛大学、麻省理工学院、香港大学、清华大学和同济大学5所名校建筑系的教授共同设计，可容纳学生5000多名。
Tags:1st Sept 2010, Beichuan, County People’s Hospital, Harvard, Hong Kong University, MIT, professor, school, Tsinghua University and Tongji University, Xinhua news agency
Posted in Construction and infrastructure, Education, Facilities reconstruction, Local government, Official news source | No Comments »
Monday, January 19th, 2009
2008年12月25日20:21 新华网
http://news.sohu.com/20081225/n261426445.shtml
BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) — The deadly 8.0-magnitude earthquake that jolted southwestern China’s Sichuan province in May damaged close to 14,000 schools in 159 counties in the province, a senior official said on Thursday.
Lu Yongxiang, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, revealed the numbers during a briefing to the law-making body on the enforcement of the Law on Compulsory Education.
The 8.0-magnitude quake centered in Sichuan’s Wenchuan County left more than 69,000 people dead, 374,000 injured, 18,000 missing and millions homeless.
He did not disclose the casualties of students in the earthquake.
Many of the school buildings in the quake-affected areas needed to be rebuilt, Lu said, adding that many schools in the central and the western part of the country were still in poor condition.
He noted that after the earthquake, many school buildings in neighboring Gansu province were severely damaged, but their rebuilding were not covered in the government’s post-quake rebuilding budget.
According to Lu, 2.5 percent of China’s primary and middle school buildings were in poor conditions in 2007. More than 90 percent of those “risky” school buildings were located in the country’s rural areas.
Twenty percent of the primary school buildings and 11 percent of the middle school buildings were “risky” in southwestern Yunnan province as in 2007, he said, citing figures from the Ministry of Education.
Fire risks, traffic safety and hygiene also posed threats to many primary and middle schools in the country due to lack of safety education, Lu added.
Lu urged authorities to add reinforcement measures to all school buildings in the quake-hit areas and to conduct a comprehensive safety check on all primary and middle schools in the rural areas across the country.
Local governments should renovate all school buildings to meet anti-quake criteria “at a proper time”, Lu suggested.
He also urged for central and local governments to grant more funds to help middle and primary schools– especially those in the central and western rural areas — renovate their school buildings and raise safety education among students and teachers.
China had already stipulated in July this year that school facilities must observe higher quake-proof standards than common buildings in the same area.
新华网北京12月25日电 （记者周婷玉、陈菲）全国人大常委会副委员长路甬祥25日向全国人大常委会作义务教育法执法检查报告时说，这次汶川特大地震对灾区学校造成严重破坏，相当部分校舍需要重建。据四川省统计，共有159个县近1．4万所学校受灾，其中义务教育学校和完全中学占91％。
他还指出，目前中西部地区农村学校的危房比例仍然较高。据教育部反映，2007年，全国普通中小学危房面积占普通中小学校舍面积总数的2．48％，其中90％分布在中西部地区农村。云南省小学、初中危房比例最高，分别达到20％和11％。甘肃省甘南受灾地区学校校舍受损也很严重，其中不少校舍没有列入国家资助的灾区中小学校舍维修加固资金项目，而地方财政困难，难以进行修缮。另外，一些学校的安全教育还没有落实，在消防、交通、卫生等方面也存在着安全隐患。
路甬祥介绍，新义务教育法实施后，各级政府部门在严格学校选址规划、完善校舍设计和编制建设标准、提高校舍维修改造资金测算标准、严格学校安全监管、维护学校周边秩序等方面加强了工作。2008年7月实施的《建筑工程抗震设防分类标准》，提高了学校建筑的抗震设防标准，要求比当地一般建筑抗震设防烈度提高一度，这将对保障校舍安全具有促进作用。
为进一步加强学校安全建设，执法检查报告建议，加快全面排查农村中小学校舍安全情况的进度，当前特别要做好受汶川特大地震影响的地区校舍的维修加固工作。同时，各地政府对未达到抗震要求的所有校舍，应适时制定规划予以改造，使之逐步达到防震标准。
报告中还建议，应适当提高农村中小学校舍维修改造经费补助标准，中央财政应重点对中西部地区农村中小学校舍抗震加固工作加大支持力度；应当进一步健全学校安全管理制度，完善处置突发事件应急机制，定期开展安全教育和应急演练活动，不断提高广大师生的自我保护意识与防范危害的能力。
Tags:budget, building, county, fire, Law on Compulsory Education, NPC, primary school, quake-proof, reinforce, renovate, safety, school, Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Wenchuan
Posted in Construction and infrastructure, Education, Facilities reconstruction, Governance and social policy, Local government, Media, National government | No Comments »
Friday, January 16th, 2009
Sichuan Quake Relief volunteers delivered winter supplies to children at a school in the village of Guangji, two hours northwest of Chengdu on January 9th, 2009. The 132 children, aged two to six years, currently attend a day school in a temporary structure with no heat or running water. In spite of their conditions, the children greeted volunteers with smiles and a song.
Schoolboy at Guangji Kindergarten.
Their school, Guangji Di Kang Le Kindergarten, was closed due to structural damage after the earthquake. The school has been moved to a temporary structure in a neighbouring field until part of the school can be reinforced, and an older section demolished. Principal Kang Yuling hopes that they will be able to return to the school in September 2009 if donations are made available. The school has been given a 5,000rmb subsidy by the government to help with the rebuilding, but it will cost at least 50,000rmb to simply strengthen the structure, plus any decoration costs.
The temporary building is cold.
As the temporary classrooms are extremely cold, SQR volunteers provided students with 15,806rmb’s worth of winter supplies, including; gloves, scarves, coats, long underwear and electric kettles (receipts available). The funding for this project was provided by the British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai (www.sha.britcham.org). The British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai donated a total of 37,000rmb to be used for this school.
School principal (l) Kang Yuling
The Guangji Di Kang Le Kindergarten is the only pre-school institution and Kindergarten serving five villages. Almost all the parents of the children that attend this school are migrant workers who are forced to work in the coastal cities as there is very little employment in the quake area. This school is a non-profit community project that has been around for more than 20 years. Principal Kang taught many of the parents of her current students when the school opened up first. In 2006, to help them move to better premises she donated part of her family’s farmland, and a section of her family home to start the school. In addition, the other teachers raised enough money to build a new section, purchase playground equipment, and supplies.
The building remained standing, but damage is severe.
The school they built then with their own money, though badly damaged by the quake, was one of the few buildings in the area that stayed standing. All of the children and staff got out of the building safely when the earthquake struck.
Tuition for the kids, including meals, is 120rmb per month. If families cannot afford the fees the school reduces or waives them. The local government has confirmed there will be no more financial support for this community kindergarten. SQR is currently assessing the situation in detail with a view to helping to rebuild the school, and perhaps extend the community facilities, and develop a long-term partnership with the Guangji community. This project will be implemented in conjunction with the Chengdu American Chamber of Commerce, the British Chamber of Commerce SouthWest China, and the European Chamber of Commerce in Chengdu, and the Chengdu International Women’s Club.
Photos by Kirsten Allen
Tags:assessment, British Chamber of Commerce, community project, demolish, glove, Guangji, Kang Yuling, kettle, kindergarten, long-term partnership, migrant, non-profit, reinforce, scarf, school, Shanghai, subsidy, temporary housing, tuition, winter supplies
Posted in Childcare, Civil society, Construction and infrastructure, Donation, Education, Facilities reconstruction, Home rebuilding, Infrastructure, Labour and migration, Living conditions, Local government, SQR, SQR Activities, SQR Donation Request, Winter | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
The Horizon Education group is running programmes across the affected areas to promote the standard of teaching in rural areas. Zheng Keke, the project’s director, told SQR that “in many of these poor areas the teachers themselves have received very little training and the standards of education are far inferior to the standards seen in the bigger towns and cities.”
Horizon sends experienced teachers to villages for extended periods to train the teachers on a systematic basis. To train all the teachers in an average school of 500 students costs about 50,000rmb per year. The group can also use the assistance of foreign and Chinese volunteer teachers for short and long term stays. For more information, contact yangfanhd@yahoo.com.cn
Tags:appeal, Horizon Education, rural, training
Posted in Civil society, Donation, Education, Local government, NGO news, Winter | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
For more photos click here. or go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/sichuanquakerelief
Five SQR volunteers returned safely to Chengdu last night (Jan 5, 2008) after an arduous five-day journey delivering bedding, warm clothing, hot water bottles, and basic food items to remote areas around Yuli in Wenchuan.
There are still frequent landslides in the area, and many of the roads are covered with snow and ice. These villages are extremely remote and so are still in dire need of even the most basic necessities. With many roads impassable for the winter, it is difficult to get basic supplies up into the region. The crew had to deliver many of the items to households on foot. We are planning to return to the region in the coming days to deliver similar supplies to surrounding areas.
This delivery was jointly funded by Springtime AB (www.springtime.nu) and Beijing Charity Dinners Club. Many thanks to them for their very generous support.
The transportation costs were covered by the local government.
These villages are extremely remote and so are still in dire need of even the most basic necessities.
We are planning to return to the region in the coming days to deliver similar supplies to surrounding areas.
For more photos click here. or go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/sichuanquakerelief
Tags:basic necessities, bedding, clothing, food, ice, landslide, remote area, snow, SQR, Wenchuan, Yuli
Posted in Donation, Local government, Relief, SQR, SQR Activities, Winter | No Comments »
Monday, January 5th, 2009
SQR visit report on a school: a good example of how stretched resources are, and how resiliently people are coping.
Basic Situation
The school was moved to Emei Shan City from Shuimo town in Wenchuan in August when it was completely destroyed by the May earthquake.
Comprising 786 students (ranging from age 12 to 15 and 46% of them are Tibetan, Qiang and Hui minorities) and 55 teachers (including dormitory management personnel), more than 800 people were allocated classroom and dorms that had been converted from workshops and warehouses in Shuren Vocational Middle School in Emei Shan City. This means the original dining room that was designed to cope with 300 people now has to cater for nearly 1000. Some students have to eat standing up. The same problem is found in the dormitories: according to Yang, the principle of Shuimo Middle, the most crowded room has 30 students. Thanks to the money given by Emei Shan government, a fairly good boiler room was installed, so children can have hot showers from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm every day.
Students have classes five and half days a week, from 8am to 8pm. Their little free time is spent reading a few dozen books, donated by government or individuals and stored in a 10-square-metre large “library”, or limited sports exercises in the simple playground.
With a small range of medicines, the one school doctor arranged by Emei Shan government can only deal with basic illnesses in the small school clinic. Therefore students have to be taken to hospital in town in the occurrence of major injury or other emergencies.
Other support
Hua Dan and Leshan Teacher Training College: occasional teaching support at weekends.
Help Request
Medicine (for cold, fever, diarrhea, athlete’s foot)
Books (for secondary school students and teaching material for teacher)
Doctors (if possible) and teachers (for weekend fun teaching)
Location
Shuren Vocational Middle School in Emei Shan City (2 and a half hrs from Chengdu, half an hour from the city centre of Emei.)
Tags:aid, help, school, Shuimo
Posted in Education, Living conditions, Local government, SQR Activities | No Comments »
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
CHENGDU, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) — Sichuan Province will seek investment worth 9.4 billion yuan (1.4 billion U.S. dollars) to save the threatened culture of the Qiang people, local authorities said.
A total of 7.9 billion yuan would be used to assist the Qiang culture protection and tourism in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture and Mianyang City where most of the Qiang people lived.
Part of the 9.4 billion yuan fund will be used to build an education centre to preserve documents and where Qiang cultural masters would have a larger stage to pass on traditions and festivals of their people. Sichuan will restore and build the cultural facilities, villages, ancient castles and gardens featuring the Qiang ethnic culture. The fund would also go to the exploration and development of the skills of tailoring, the arts and cooking, according to the handbook.
The Qiang people, with a history of at least 3,000 years, were famous for their unique language, customs, arts and religious beliefs. They were also known for the stone castles they live in, often three or four stories tall. It has a population of 300,000 people, 80 percent of whom are in quake-hit areas of Maoxian, Wenchuan, and Beichuan counties. The culture of the Qiang nationality suffered a near fatal blow from the earthquake on May 12. All the houses in Luobo village, the most ancient Qiang village of Wenchuan County, were toppled. The same tragedy also befell hundreds of typical Qiang houses, buildings and bridges in Beichuan, Maoxian, Lixian counties. More than 30,000 Qiang people died in the quake, 40 of whom were cultural masters and experts.
Tags:Arts, Beichuan, cooking, culture, documents, education, ethnic, handbook, language, Lixian, Luobo, Maoxian, Mianyang, minority, Qiang, skills, tailor, tourism, Wenchuan
Posted in Arts, Ethnic minorities, Local government, National government | No Comments »
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
From the China Daily via the China National Committe on Ageing:
Canada and British Columbia (BC) province are working with the Chinese government and partners in the Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction Project constructing quake-proof wood frame buildings.
Tags:British Columbia, building, Canada, Dujiangyan, Forestry Innovation Investment, Government, home, Japan, Leigu, load bearing, school, seismic forces, Shanghai Tongji University, technology, wood-frame, Xiang'e
Posted in Construction and infrastructure, Enterprise, Environment, Home rebuilding, Investment, Local government, National government | No Comments »
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
From last week’s New York Times:
BEICHUAN — He lost his wife of 35 years when their home collapsed during the earthquake in May. She lost her husband of 20 years the same day in a cascade of debris at a construction site. They are distant relatives from the same town whose eyes still tear up when they talk about their dead spouses. But within months of the earthquake, which was the deadliest natural disaster to befall China in more than three decades, Jiang Zhongfu, 60, began courting Zhu Xiaoqiong, 42. Last month, he moved into Ms. Zhu’s prefabricated housing cube in a refugee camp in these scarred hills.
Posted in In Their View, Living conditions, Local government, National government | No Comments »
Thursday, September 4th, 2008
As one of the most influential local NGOs, Ye Cao focuses on environmental protection. After the May 12th earthquake, they began to do some projects combining environmental protection and quake relief.
SQR visited them last Thursday to get more information about what Chinese NGOs or Chengdu local NGOs are doing and to search for some opportunities to cooperate with them.
What have they done in the past few months?
In the past few months, they were doing a project called ecological W.C. for public use in villages in Mianzhu, Jiu Zhai Gou and Pengzhou.
What are they doing now?
Project one: Ecological washroom for family use
Recently they have begun another related project, still about toilets but for family use. They are doing this project for 108 families in Guang Han.
They will hold a forum about ecological washrooms on 18th September 2008. Some specialists, organizations, NGOs and the media will attend this forum. They hope a representative of SQR can attend the forum.
Project two: Organic crop
The other project they are working on is organic crops project. They plan to use a piece of land for a demonstration to local people. When the idea attracts any local farmer, they will teach the methods to plant organic crops.
Now they have finished project design and location collection.
Because full preparation work for a project usually take an NGO three months. So now they are prioritising the ecological washroom. When they finish this, they will get down to work on the second project.
Ye Cao culture is a Chengdu native NGO. It has good network with Chinese NGOs or some Chinese branches of foreign NGO. They go to affected areas regularly, and develop good relationships with local government. They are also familiar with some other NGOs’ regular project sites. Their members are all Sichuanese natives, so they perhaps have a better understanding with people and situations in the affected area. They have almost no contact with foreign NGOs. They are lacking in resources in this field.
Tags:Chengdu, demonstration, Jiu Zhai Gou, Mianzhu, organic crops, Pengzhou, toilet, Ye Cao
Posted in Environment, Infrastructure, Local government, Media, NGO news, SQR Activities | No Comments »
