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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Australia China India Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam Search Search: China: School rebuilding on track in quake zone By AUDRA ANG,Associated Press Writer AP - Saturday, May 9 BEIJING - Reconstruction and recovery work in earthquake-devastated Sichuan province is going full-steam ahead and a large part of the task will be completed a year ahead of schedule, a top Chinese official said Friday. ADVERTISEMENT The announcement by Mu Hong, vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission, came as the government continued efforts to stanch discontent days before the one-year anniversary of the May 12 disaster. Mu said 360 billion yuan ($52 billion) has been poured so far into projects in the provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi and the epicenter of Sichuan, where the magnitude-7.9 quake decimated villages and shook mountains. That represents a third of the total planned investment, he said. Houses are being constructed, damaged ones are being reinforced and new infrastructure is being built, Mu said. "It has been the most massive, the heaviest, the most complicated and challenging reconstruction since the founding of the People's Republic of China" in 1949, Mu told a news conference. The quake left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing and another 5 million homeless. The destruction triggered an outpouring of grief around China and united the country in a massive rescue effort. But it has also given rise to national outrage and tremendous unhappiness among parents mourning thousands of students who were killed when their schools collapsed while surrounding buildings remained mostly intact. Parents allege widespread corruption and lax safety management during construction, which resulted in buildings of poor quality _ and ultimately the deaths of their children. Within weeks of the quake, parents' efforts to protest or petition officials and courts for answers were stifled. Many have been detained or taken away by police for questioning. With the approach of the one-year anniversary, the surveillance has grown even more severe. The government has repeatedly blamed the intensity of the quake as the main reason for the collapses and has not held anyone accountable. For almost a year, authorities refused to release a tally of dead and missing students, saying the process was complicated and took time. On Thursday, it was released _ 5,335 _ but parents and activists say the number was far lower than it should be. Tang Kai, a department head at the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said the government has been trying to determine if anyone can be held responsible for the number of flattened schools. "Up to now, we have not been able to understand or come up with a quantified conclusion of how the earthquake affected schools and other buildings," Tang said at the news conference. "This job is hugely challenging." The process is further complicated by the fact many buildings were destroyed during rescue efforts so it's not clear to what extent they were originally damaged by the quake, Tang said. So far, officials have had to resort to looking at building plans to figure out what went wrong and if design flaws, shoddy construction or poor supervision were factors, he said. "Up to now, we have not found that anyone intentionally did something to cause the buildings to be damaged in the disaster and causing injuries in the process," Tang said. Signs of construction are everywhere throughout Sichuan's quake damaged areas. Workers swarm half-built brick houses, cranes and piles of concrete are everywhere and roads have been widened and freshly tarred. Echoing a legislative decision made in March, red and white banners everywhere urge the completion reconstruction within two years _ by September 2010 _ instead of three. Realistically, most _ not all _ of the goals can be reached by then, Mu said. In Sichuan, for example, 85 percent of the targets will be met by 2010, including guaranteed housing and employment for all the quake victims. "I want to stress that we cannot underestimate the difficulty in achieving the reconstruction targets one year ahead of schedule. But it is attainable," he said. "There's still a lot of work we need to do and we need to redouble our efforts." According to provincial government figures, more than 3,300 schools needed rebuilding after the quake. Mu said about 75 percent of all school reconstruction projects in the earthquake zone had been started and almost 8 percent completed. Mu's agency, the Cabinet's top economic planning body, said in a statement released Friday that it would "strictly enforce the obligatory building codes and standards ... in order to ensure that these buildings are the safest, the most solid and the most reliable." Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Sign in to recommend this article » 0 users recommend Related Articles: Asia Pacific Malaysia to release 13 detained activistsAFP - 2 hours 30 minutes ago Quarantine ends at Hong Kong swine flu hotelAFP - 2 hours 42 minutes ago Pakistan says 143 militants killed in SwatReuters - 2 hours 12 minutes ago Hanks throws out first pitch in JapanAP - Saturday, May 9 Cause of China quake school collapses not yet foundAFP - Saturday, May 9 Enlarge Photo FILE - In this May 23, 2008 file photo, a father holds a photo of his daughter who was killed in an earthquake, while sitting in the ruins of the Fuxin No. 2 Primary School in Wufu, in China's southwest Sichuan province. On Thursday, May 7, 2009, China says that 5,335 students died in last year's Sichuan earthquake, the first time a number had been given for the politically charged issue. (AP Photo/Greg Baker, File) Most Popular – Asia Pacific Viewed Stress tests lift uncertainty over US banks Obese young men have less hope of marriage: study Court okays breast removal for transsexual teen: report Berlusconi: My marriage is 'finished or about to finish' Porsche to merge with Volkswagen View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - Community - Intellectual Property Rights Policy - Help

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