New communities in disaster areas

What are these disaster resettlements areas like? Are they as chaotic, poor, indifferent and dirty as the refugee camps we see on TV?

In due course, as the first transitional temporary houses are formally occupied, such concerns are relieved. New settlements in disaster areas are neither dirty nor disorderly. Fully equipped with essential facilities and regulated under property management, they have become completely new mid-sized communities.

From May 25 to May 29, the reporter of China Economic Weekly visited several large-scale transitional resettlement communities in Dujiangyan and Mianzhu, where he saw relief forces from all over the country hard at work building new home units for people from disaster areas.

In the first of these communities, the reporter experienced what they have to offer in terms of stability, convenience, practicality and humane care. The camp is fully equipped with essential facilities, as well as some specifics for disaster areas such as special agencies for psychological counseling, labor and employment, etc.

Dujiangyan 'Happy Home': the first resettlement community

What's the "new home" like?

"Bound together, we will never abandon each other. The greater the danger, the closer the union. Together we can work miracles. Remain firm in your belief that tomorrow will be more beautiful….." This was the first lesson after the Disaster Relief School had resumed classes in the Dujiangyan "Happy Home" resettlement community.

It transpires that the Disaster Relief School is composed of the elementary and high schools as well as a kindergarten. Each classroom is around 200 square meters and divided into three parts. The two ends are for classes of about 60 students and the middle is a dinning room for students and other residents. The whole classroom is exceptionally clean. "Quiet please, students. Don't distract the class opposite", the teacher continually reminds these kids. There are beaming smiles on their faces.

It is reported that "Happy Home", the first resettlement community built in Sichuan, has been receiving people from disaster areas since the evening of May 22. The community covers a total area of 10 hectares. There are 517 temporary homes, with an area of 10,000 square meters, housing 1,500 people. As of May 29, 916 people have moved in.

The whole community is clean and orderly. On the door of each house, with an average area of 15 square meters, a clear sign announces "No. X, Happy Home Resettlement Community," with the name of the Head of the Camp and the occupying family respectively. There are three to four people in each family. Everything indicates the planned intercession of community organizations and their orderly management.

"In accordance with the standard family unit of three people, there are three beds in each house. The average living area is equal to or perhaps greater than the general standard (4.9 square meters per person) in urban areas of Chengdu," the individual in charge of the building site told China Economic Weekly.

Essential facilities are widely available in the community. Hospitals, policy advice for labor, employment, laws and regulations, psychological care, stores, the police station etc. are already in service. Volunteers from Henan and the northeastern provinces clean the grounds and help people move in under the guidance of the relative departments.

All the resettlement houses are light prefabs built of polystyrene lined panels. The external dimension of each unit is about 20 square meters. They are equipped with such facilities as lighting fixtures, electrical outlets, bottled gas stoves, storage cupboards etc, providing for the basic necessities.

Additionally, there are communal kitchens, toilets and water supply points, garbage collection stations, medical clinics, high schools, elementary schools, etc.

There is also a 12 square meters shop with a daily turnover of over 2,000 yuan. "Goods here are all 5 percent or even 10 percent cheaper than those outside. There is a low profit margin, and on some goods no profit at all", the salesperson told China Economic Weekly.

"Food is excellent. There is meat for lunch and supper. Life is quite satisfactory," said Xie Honggen, just back from the dinning room with his family. He was a former employee of a bankrupt enterprise in the city, and lived in the dormitory of the enterprise on No. 18 Taiping Street. The earthquake completely destroyed the building, and within seconds he had lost everything.

"In due course twenty Special Hardship Case families (SHC families) from our enterprise were accommodated in this community. We thank the Communist Party of China and the Government very much," he told the reporter. With a relief card and meal vouchers issued by the government, residents here can take their meals in the community dining canteen.

He Wei, from Room 8, Unit 4, also moved in on May 22. His house collapsed in the earthquake and his 13-year-old son sustained a head injury. Luckily, he quickly recovered, and is now studying in the community school. When asked for "any demands for the government," he simply smiled. "We have food to eat and roofs over our head. No demands at all." He also said that he would look for a job soon. "We should do something to reduce the government's burden."

"The Labor, Employment and Social Security Office is open for 24 hours," said Gao Xiaoyu of the Dujiangyan Municipal Employment Bureau, working in the community's "Employment Registry Point". The Registration File for May 29 indicated that eight residents had registered by 13:00 PM that day, the oldest being 59 and the youngest 25. "Through the registration process we can quickly provide information about recruitment and employment opportunities to candidates, and recommend suitable positions to them."

Including "Happy Home" there are 15 sites for resettlement communities in Dujiangyan City. They are mainly distributed around the second-ring road. 19 further sites have been identified in townships.

Management Issues

According to Lan Youcheng, head of the Temporary Party Office of the "Happy Home" community, the community is implementing an independent management structure under the leadership of the Administrative Committee of the community. "The Administrative Committee mainly takes charge of security, health and public order in the community. Every apartment and unit will elect a responsible individual, and every 100 apartments will elect one Representative to join the Administrative Committee," said Lan. "We have also laid out a residents' pact that will be posted in every apartment."

Lan noted that this temporary organization will shortly be replaced by a new administrative system. "It's now at the top of the Municipal Government's agenda," he added.

Lan pointed out that the "Happy Home" community would give top priority to families that have no houses, no jobs and no livelihood.

Classes in some quake areas have already resumed. (Image: China.org)"Openness, justice and fairness will be the core principles in the process of the allocation of temporary homes,” said Wang Rui, director of the Construction Bureau of Mianyang City. He further noted that the definition and application of regulations is of primary importance, given the gap between current demand and available supply.

Unlike normal communities in China, there is a special organization called the "Psychological Welfare Station" in the "Happy Home" community. Lots of children come here to play games and attend activities.

"We filed an application for the establishment of this station and the government provided the office building for free,” said Shi Aiping, an overseas Chinese returnee and one of the two staff who came from a psychological counseling center in Shanghai.

"Our work here covers three stages: conciliation, psychological counseling and treatment," Shi said. "Currently the station liaises with schools in the community by providing a place for children to read, draw and play. We also give a weekly psychological art lesson, which gives us the opportunity to get inside the children's heads and provide them with appropriate conciliation and guidance."

An employee from Chengdu Construction Committee told the reporter that all the arrangements in the community are based on a people-oriented philosophy and comply strictly with the standards and requirements of the Ministry of Construction.

"The intention is that the transitional community will have all the functions of a mature community," the staff said.

On May 22, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction issued "Guidelines for the Construction of Transitional Houses in Quake-ravaged Areas", defining clear requirements in terms of construction process and choice of location. The Ministry requires that all transitional houses should be built close to each other, each site should contain at least 50 apartments, the houses should be built in rows and each row should contain four to ten apartments based on the condition of the site, the space between rows should be four to five meters, the path for emergency vehicles should be at least 4 meters wide, and public bathrooms should stand at the appropriate distance from the houses.

Concerning auxiliary service facilities, the ministry requires that every 50 apartments should be equipped with one water-supply point, one set of public bathrooms, one garbage collecting point and one fire-fighting unit. The water-supply point should have a rain-proof shelter to protect residents while cooking, bathing, or doing laundry. The public bathrooms should be disability-friendly facilities of around 40 square meters and contain both bathing space and lavatories, and a cesspit. The garbage collection point should have all necessary garbage collection, cleaning and transport equipment. Also, every 1,000 apartments should be provided with one elementary school.

New issues

However some new issues have required the government's attention in the course of the temporary dwellings project.

"The primary question is how to choose and pay for land," said Wang Rui, chief of the Mianzhu Construction Bureau.

The Ministry of Construction's regulations require that pre-fabricated houses should be provided in accordance with the requirements of the reconstruction plan. These include: land on which there are existing building plans cannot be used; land must be safe; water source areas should be protected; a safe distance from dilapidated buildings must be maintained; natural drainage systems must be protected; areas should be selected on the basis that they are close to existing dwellings and have public facilities.

Wang Rui acknowledged the enormity of the task and confirmed that the Mianzhu government has designed its regulations to meet this challenge.

Transportation of building materials has added to the problems requiring attention.
Wang Rui told China Economic Weekly that Mianzhu railway station is small and lacks heavy cranes, interfering with the efficiency and scheduling of the construction work. "The Ministry of Railways has made a priority of this issue and has allocated heavy cranes to Mianzhu," Wang was quoted as saying.

At Dujiangyan City, the construction of resettlement communities is also dealing with problems as they arise. On May 26, the second day after the "Happy Home" community was put into use, Xiao Hong, chief of the Dujiangyan’s Health Bureau told China Economic Weekly that there were about 1,000 medical staff to cover the whole city with the aim of epidemic prevention. “The top issue on the agenda at the moment is establishing a long-term process,” Xiao said in a serious tone.

Xiao also stressed that construction and management of transitional resettlement houses should be improved continuously from the existing base, ensuring epidemic prevention and supervision work be carried out in strict accordance with official standards.