China quake rebuilding success masks deeper woes

NEW BEICHUAN, China (Reuters) - China has hailed reconstruction efforts since a massive earthquake levelled parts of Sichuan province three years ago as a major victory, but a lack of jobs and crippling debts to pay for new homes are making life difficult for many.

The May 12, 2008, quake left 87,000 people dead or missing and millions homeless, prompting the government to pump in 885 billion yuan (83 billion pounds), rebuilding a staggering 37 cities and towns, nearly 3,000 schools and 4,500 km of highways.

"The enormous changes over the past three years have proved that people in this disaster-hit area will never back down," Premier Wen Jiabao said earlier this week.

Communist Party-ruled China was able to rapidly mobilise assistance and funds, offering a lesson for Japan as it rebuilds after its devastating quake and tsunami in March.

Authorities have held up New Beichuan, a town built from scratch, as the model for the reconstruction effort.

Liu Zuohua laughs as she chases her grandson through the landscaped grounds and tree-lined pathways around a housing development after her original mountain home of Beichuan was wiped off the map.

"We are very satisfied," said Liu, 55, proudly showing off her new home with white marble floors, a flat-screen television, balcony and child's room crammed with toys. "If it wasn't for the Communist Party, things wouldn't be like they are today."

Not everyone is so thankful. Many villagers struggle with unresolved troubles, including personal debt and weak local economies.

Scores of farmers have been uprooted, losing their land and livelihoods, while being plunged into debt by taking out high-interest loans on their new homes.

"A lot of people feel that with the loans, daily living expenses and lack of new jobs, the pressure is too great," said Zhao Yan, a 38-year-old mother of three, selling snacks by the roadside.

"Sometimes we don't know what to do," added Zhao who took out a 50,000 yuan loan to pay for her new flat.

"NO JOBS"

Authorities plan to pump a further three billion yuan into poverty alleviation in Sichuan in the next three to five years, but some doubt much public money will trickle down.

"There are no jobs here. I don't know how they're going to get this area's economy going again," said Ju Chunping, a shopkeeper mourning her six-year-old son at a shrine overlooking the remains of old Beichuan in a deep valley below.

In the mountain village of Yingxiu, now linked with the outside world by a series of tunnels and bridges, hundreds of new buildings stand around the ruins of the Xuankou Middle School.

Coachloads of tourists stream to the site to lay wreaths, snap photos and sing patriotic songs, raising hopes that tourism might help lift the local economy.

But as in other quake-hit towns, darker accusations of corruption have continued to dog local officials with billions of reconstruction money sloshing around, while some villagers say they were forced from their land with minimal compensation and have benefited little from the building boom.

"If they even gave us one percent of all the money they got, I'd be happy," said Niu Ni, a hawker selling spicy noodles to tourists who was forced to leave the area by five police officers.

"They don't even allow us to sell things on the street here. It's not fair."

CHINA LESSONS FOR JAPAN

Despite the accusations, China's leaders have touted the reconstruction as a domestic victory and an example for Japan.

"The central government's ability to gather resources and funds from across the country to help one area and to get other provinces and regions to assist shows the power and advantages of our system," said Wei Hong, one of Sichuan's deputy governors. "We hope we can share these experiences with Japan and we are also willing to provide whatever help we can for their rebuilding." Japan's government, led by unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan, has come under fire for its handling of the March 11 quake, tsunami and subsequent radiation crisis at a damaged nuclear plant. The political bickering has distracted policy makers from efforts not only to figure out how to fund the massive cost of rebuilding, but from tackling the deeper woes of a fast-ageing society and huge public debt.

"We can learn many lessons actually because they (China) achieved such a great job in such a short time," Yutaka Yokoi, deputy chief of the Japanese embassy in Beijing, told Reuters during a visit to an ethnic Qiang village in Sichuan.

At a grassroots level, the Japanese tragedy has struck a common chord with some Chinese earthquake victims, even if they don't all agree with the official, rosy image of the government's response.

"In Japan, the people's will is very strong and they're united," said Zheng Haiyang, who lost both legs when his school crashed on to him as he attended class. "But in China, we didn't have that much experience and things were a bit chaotic."

Officials have tried to steer clear of the so-called "tofu" schools controversy in Sichuan where at least 5,000 children were killed in the rubble of poorly built schools when in many cases buildings all around stayed intact.

But many parents have vowed to continue fighting for justice despite attempts to silence them.

Zheng, 19, who was trapped in the rubble for 20 hours before being rescued, winced as he tried walking on two prosthetic legs.

"The compensation was not enough," said Zheng, a basketball fan who was wearing a Michael Jordan T-shirt.

Others, however, are keen to move on.

"I feel the past is the past. The future is more important,"

said Niu Yu, an animated 14-year-old girl who lost her right leg in the earthquake and who hopes to become a doctor.

"After I was rescued from the earthquake I saw people in white uniforms everywhere," she added. "It made me want to be one of these white angels. I want to help other people too."

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Zhao Bing in Hong Kong; Editing by Don Durfee and Nick Macfie)

WhatsAppFacebookTwitterLinkedinBeloudBluesky