40 Billion Yuan Earmarked for Three Gorges ResettlementChina has earmarked 40 billion yuan (4.8 billion U.S. dollars) for the resettlement of residents in the Three Gorges Reservoir areas, about 45 percent of the total budget for the Three Gorges Power Project.Wang Jiazhu, deputy manager of the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project (TGP) Development Corporation, disclosed the statistics in a report submitted to the ongoing International Conference on Engineering and Technological Sciences in Beijing. Wang said that the resettlement plan includes rural residents' resettlement, relocation planning of cities and towns, relocation for industrial enterprises, special item reconstruction, environmental protection and cost estimates. According to the survey conducted in 1992, the total land area to be inundated by the reservoir is 632 square kilometers, of which 24,500 hectares is farmland involving 846,200 residents. The total population to be resettled is expected to reach 1.1 million, taking population growth into account. The Chinese government has formulated a number of preferential policies for the resettlement plan. One of the policies is setting up a development fund for local economic expansion. Money for the fund will be collected from a portion of profits from sales of the power generated by the power station. By the end of 1999, 17.7 billion yuan had been used to resettle 228,000 people, develop 21,230 hectares of farmland, and build houses totaling 13.1 million square meters. Located in Yichang City, Hubei province, the project, which encompasses the dam, two power plants and navigation facilities, is designed for flood control, power generation and navigation improvement. |
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