China Combats Floods

Gov't ensures resettlement for people in Zhouqu

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-10 21:47

BEIJING - Food, clothing and shelter supplies for the mudslide-affected people in Zhouqu county in Northwest China's Gansu province are to be properly handled, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Tuesday.

The affected people will be helped by the government to reconstruct their homes, the ministry said in a statement.

China's Ministry of Finance has allocated 500 million yuan ($73 million) for emergency aid to fund the relief efforts.

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The statement said the resettlement program will be carried out in three stages.

The first stage of emergency aid is resettling the affected people in temporary shelters.

The second stage is the stopgap resettlement of people in houses of relatives, friends, neighbors as well as rented houses and houses offered by the government.

The third stage is reconstruction and the moving of people into their new homes.

Efforts should be made to finish reconstruction of toppled houses before winter sets in, or no later than June 2011, the statement said, noting the repair of damaged houses shall be finished by November this year.

The ministry will soon flesh out the resettlement program after learning further details of the disaster, an official at the Ministry of Civil Affairs said.

The death toll from the massive rain-triggered mudslide in Zhouqu county has risen to 702, with 1,042 others still missing.