Officials, victims strain to fix grassroots problems

• Source: The Global Times
• [00:04 May 12 2009]
• Comments

Saddest place in Sichuan

Many of the survivors of Beichuan county town now reside in the Yongxing prefabricated apartment zone, 72 kms from their devastated hometown. The original town, where more than 10,000 died, is now encircled by an iron fence.

It opened yesterday for four days’ commemoration.

“It’s one of the saddest places in earthquake-affected Sichuan,” said Dang Qin, a veteran local journalist now preparing a reportage on the earthquake. “In almost every household, there were people killed.”

Former Beichuan county town residents were among those chosen for a door-to-door investigation by 1,000 officials into the grievances of earthquake-affected people.

“They lost their home, their land, their family members, everything, ” said volunteer Long Taiguo, vice head of the Perfect Spring Volunteer service station in Sichuan.

Traveling in pairs, more than 80 county officials were yesterday visibly visiting some of the 6,900 people in the Yongxing prefabricated apartment zone to explain government policies in response to their complaints. The first phase starting April 30 had gathered complaints, hoping to solve problems and avoid petitions, said Li.

Li’s work is guiding grassroots officials on how to respond to complaints and conducting door-to-door investigation himself if necessary. His mother, who he saved in the earthquake, also lives in the zone. Li’s brother and niece were killed in the earthquake.

Sun Tingying’s complaint is simple: location. “I lost my only child when Maoba Middle School was buried in a landslide at the foot of the mountain,” Sun said.

All but a few of the 500 junior middle school students died in a slide that she asserts was avoidable: the school was built in the wrong place. Altogether 857 people who used to live in Beichuan County lost their school-age children, said Li. More than 600 live in the prefab zone.

Many demanded a reappraisal of the school buildings and insurance agreements. The reply was “Answers to parents of students who died or becoming disabled from the May 12 earthquake”, a five-page document issued by Beichuan Petitioning Bureau that officially ended all debate on their demands: No quality appraisal would be conducted on the collapsed buildings, but insurance compensation would be granted to all parents of killed students.

Li and his team recorded Sun’s request that a temporary memorial plaque be set up on the ruins of the school as a place for parents to gather and commemorate.