Rebuilding to Olympic deadlines
Posted: Sunday, August 03, 2008 10:41 PM
Filed Under:
Beijing, China
 |
| By Ian Williams, NBC News Correspondent |
HANWANG, Sichuan Province –
I was standing in the middle of a muddy path, lined by row and after row of prefabricated buildings, when a little girl caught my eye. She was sitting on a motorized cart, on top of a pile of boxes and blankets, waving a small Olympic flag.
Her parents were among scores of homeless moving into their new makeshift homes, and her gesture was another sign of the enormous passion and pride the Olympics are generating here.
The resettlement of 4.5 million families made homeless by the May 12 Sichuan earthquake is being driven by Olympic deadlines. Chinese authorities had hoped to have them in temporary homes by the time the torch goes through the area Monday, but are now aiming to complete the task by the time the Games open on Aug. 8.
Prefabricated "towns" are rising from the fields, together with makeshift hospitals, schools and shops – even a tented Internet café. Each family of three – mom, dad, and their single child – are being allocated a 200-square-foot room. They're pretty basic, but at least it is a home for those who have spent almost three months in tents or other rudimentary shelters.
‘This is good for us’
I met Wang Tianyan as he was sweeping out nails from the floor of his new room and rearranging some bricks that will form the base of his bed. His wife and daughter waited outside with two boxes of possessions – all they were able to salvage from the wreckage of their homes. They’ve been living in a local stadium.
"This is good for us," Wang told me. "It hasn't cost us a penny.
Outside, the lanes were alive with chatter and laughter as families took possession of keys and struggled with belongings. Tractors and cars chugged though the mud.
Priority is being given to families who lived in the cities, many of which will have to be completely rebuilt. Even where buildings still stand, they can never be lived in again; most of them are riddled with cracks.
Villagers will have to wait longer, and there is some resentment.
"We'd love to move there," said one farmer, whose collapsed home is just across the road from the one new pre-fab town. "But we are not allowed." So he continues to live in a tent.
Villagers have been promised cash to rebuild their homes. Many are reluctant to move away from their land, and they are still waiting for the money.
Long way to go
The area we visited is close to the city of Hanwang, where thousands died. Tents still line the road into what remains of the city. The center is like a ghost town, blocked by the police, who play a constant game of cat and mouse with an army of scavengers picking metal from the rubble.
They can earn around 20 Yuan ($3) for a bundle of the metal reinforcing bars that proved so inadequate during the quake.
The pace at which pre-fab homes are being erected is impressive, but the scavengers serve as reminder that livelihoods were also shattered by the quake. There are few jobs, and a great deal of desperation among the survivors.
Click here for more on the Beijing Olympics
