U.S. Water News Online
BEIJING -- A Chinese official said builders of the giant Three Gorges Dam have poured 70 percent of the concrete for its 60-story-high wall, and he rejected accusations of misuse of money meant to resettle more than 1 million people forced from their homes.
Thirteen new towns have been built to house communities that will be inundated by the reservoir of the dam, said Guo Shuyan, director of the construction committee. Almost 650,000 people have been moved, some 140,000 of them to other regions of China.
Environmentalists, scientists and archaeologists call the dam an expensive mistake. They say it will wreck the local environment, destroy cultural relics and be an economic drain.
People being resettled complain that money for their relocation has disappeared or been misused by corrupt officials.
Guo insisted that corruption and embezzlement of project funds has been minimal. He said only 234 cases have been uncovered totaling $5 million, and most of that money was recovered.
``Management of funds has been very strict,'' Guo said.
However, the Communist Party newspaper People's Daily in December, 2000, reported $57 million had been pilfered from government relocation funds.
There was no explanation for the discrepancy between the report and Guo's statement.
New towns all along the river boast monumental government office buildings and lavish apartments for officials. However, much of the promised housing for farmers and townspeople has yet to be built.
China says the dam will end disastrous annual flooding on the Yangtze River, generate power and make river shipping safer.
More than 1 million people are to be displaced by the reservoir of the dam, said to be the world's largest hydroelectric project.
More than 27 million cubic yards of cement has gone into the dam's wall, Guo said.
The dam is to start producing power next year and will add capacity through 2009, when its 244-square-mile reservoir will be full.
Interest payments and inflation are expected to push the project's total cost to $24 billion.
Guo said that was within the projected budget. He said power sales and related projects will begin paying off loans within three years.
Guo did not comment on reports that angry migrants, most of whom have received a little over $1,000 per family in compensation, have staged protests or refused to move.
State media report only contentment with new homes and land, apparently to squelch concerns among those yet to be moved.
Archaeologists have also complained the government hasn't given them time to excavate thousands of ancient graves, temples and medieval towns in the area soon to be under water.
The government has set aside $37 million for surveying and preserving archaeological sites, according to a report issued at a recent news conference.
About 100 imperial-era ancient temples, watchtowers, pavilions and other relics will be moved out of the reservoir area, it said.
Return to the U.S. Water News Archives page Or Return to the U.S. Water News Homepage
Editor@uswaternews.com
*Your Name:
*Your Email:
*Friend's Email:
Use a comma to separate e-mail addresses:
*Your Comments:
Hi, I thought you might like to read this article.
*Required Fields