China's Three Gorges Dam - A Magnet For Controversy

(THREE GORGES DAM, Hubei Province, China) – It was correspondent Mark Mullen who first noticed them.

"What's that?" he asked as he pointed down at two red, waxy-looking discs on the ground. A piece of paper with Chinese writing was pinned on one of them. "They're all over the place," he said.

"Dunno," I replied, befuddled by the writing. But once we became aware of them, we noticed they were everywhere.

And because of where we were standing, atop the Three Gorges Dam, their existence seemed especially baffling......

......I approached the engineer from the Three Gorges Project Development Corporation who was accompanying us.

He walked over with me to stare at the ground. "I don't know." He picked one up and called out to a nearby cleaning lady sweeping the path. "Hey! What is this?"

"Rat poison," he said, wiping his hands. Despite all of the sophisticated engineering features of the dam, the builders have resorted to a low-tech solution to keep rats from chewing into wires and cables.

On-Site Investigations of Three Gorges Dam by Reporters Home and Abroad
December 7, 2007
People's Daily Online

A group of 33 media reporters from at home and abroad spent 6 days covering the 600 kilometer- Three Gorges Dam region.

They investigated the Dam and water quality in the area; interviewed relocated residents; and explored newly-emerged towns. As the interviews drew to a close, their fact-finding tour yielded the following results:

Environment—high quality water serves as reliable source of drinking water

Every time the water storage level increases, Cai Zhenfeng, a reporter from the Strait Journal in Singapore, will come to the Three Gorges region to conduct interviews and investigations. This time, he found the body of water amazingly clean; yet the water level had not visibly changed.

According to Tan Qiwei, the vice-mayor of Chongqing Municipality, the river water was assessed to be Grade 3 in quality: an adequate source of drinking water. As for sand and silt deposits in the Dam area, Zhang Zhikui, the vice-director of the Chongqing Municipal Administration of Environmental Protection, told the reporters that silt deposits amounted to less than half of those anticipated. He added that garbage and sewage disposal plants are operational in almost every county and township.

Thanks to the large-scale Forestation Project, 80% of the area surrounding the Dam is currently covered in green.

Relocation—it's going smoothly and ahead of schedule

Vice-mayor Tan Qiwei was quoted in an interview as saying that 93.5% of the resident relocation project has been completed so far. By the end of October, over 1 million residents were resettled and appropriate arrangements were made for their subsistence. A little over 99% of planned housing reconstruction is complete, and large quantities of historical and cultural relics have been salvaged and protected from damaging torrents.

The last phase of the relocation project was launched just recently and expected to be complete by the end of 2008: one year ahead of schedule.

Economy—the growth rate has exceeded the average in Chongqing

In the last decade, Tan said, the economic and social development in the Dam region has taken a turn for the better; and the living standard of the resettled people has been improving. In the 15 counties and districts within the Dam area, the annual average GDP has grown by 10.3% - 0.2% higher than the municipal average. Per capita housing space for resettled villagers and resettled city dwellers averages 41 and 25 square meters – 10 square meters more than that prior to relocation. The population living in abject poverty dropped to 327,000 last year, from more than 1 million previously. Policies giving aid to nearly 1,400 projects, and benefiting 500,000 resettled people, are being carried out in the later stage of relocation.

Extended information: Questions and concerns raised by the media from abroad

Advantages and disadvantages of Three Gorges Project

Question: Why did you begin the project, even when facts have shown that the power-generation capacity of Three Gorges Dam makes up only 4% of the nation's total; the project in itself is an ecological threat; and also it has resulted in resident relocation? (US Feature Story News)

Response: The Three Gorges project began after much consideration and evaluation. The project is not only designed to generate power, but to prevent flooding as well. Even though it could lead to the relocation of some 1.2 million residents; the project protects 15 million people and 1.5 million hectares of fertile land from disastrous flooding. On top of that, shipping conditions at the upper and middle-reaches of the Yangstze River have greatly improved. It is evident that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. (Liu Di, Director of the Reservoir Division, State Council Three Gorges Office)

Relocation Funds

Question: It is said that 'problematic funding' occurs in the application for resettlement funds; what's the problem? (Japan, Kyodo News Service)

Response: In 2005, China's Central Disciplinary Committee revealed that 0.14% of the Three Gorges Relocation Funds proved problematic – the lowest 'occurrence of problems' in statistical funds then in China. In the 270 cases in question, misused funds have been recovered, and guilty parties have been severely punished. The audit report in 2006 indicated that the 440 million of 40 billion yuan RMB labeled 'problem funds' were later are traced back to application orders rather than embezzlement. So far, 95% of 'problem funds' have been settled in a rational way. (Tan Qiwei, Vice-mayor, Chongqing Municipality)

Compensation for collecting land

Question: It is clear that some local inhabitants have saved every penny to build up a 200-square meter house. As a result, they cannot afford any drastic life change. What actions should be taken by the government to assist them in staying on the right track? (Hong Kong, Tak Kung Pao)

Response: Those who have been relocated have been financially compensated. According to our calculations, this compensation is sufficient for them to rebuild a house of the same size and quality. We have also offered free skills training, employment opportunities, and small loans to help them start a business. (Chen Liande, Former vice-director, Chongqing Municipal Administration of Relocation)

Question: It is rumored that another 2 million inhabitants will be relocated. Is this due to insufficient planning in the beginning? (Singapore, Associated Morning Post)

Response: Chongqing is presently under construction with unified plan that considers all related factors. The fact that another 2 million people will move out of the area is determined by market demands: not a compulsory act imposed by the government. We see it as a shift in labor. (Tan Qiwei)

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