China’s Impressive Rebuilding After Sichuan Earthquake

[Secret Service]

China’s Impressive Rebuilding After Sichuan Earthquake

China’s government sets an example of an efficient government bureaucracy, reviving a region destroyed by a deadly quake, and opening a museum that records the tragedy and the achievement for generations to come.

Many Pakistanis know about it because Pakistani officers and families live in this Chinese province where the JF-17 was jointly developed. As if the impressive rebuilding wasn't enough, a museum was opened yesterday to record the tragedy and the achievement for future generations.

ISLAMABAD :

Pakistan—Today, May 12, 2011 marks the Third anniversary of the massive quake that rocked Sichuan Province and killed more than 85,000 people. Covering just 3.3 square kilometers, the quake brutally hit Beichuan county seat, leaving 20,000 dead or missing.


On Tuesday, about 50,000 people returned to the county seat to mourn for the dead, and a police official estimated that the number of visitors on Wednesday could exceed 100,000.


On Wednesday, China’s first earthquake museum was opened in Sichuan. It covers 140,000 square meters, and is made up of six theme sections with 270 exhibits and 559 photos. Touching pictures of the victims, rescuers and other people who helped the victims are exhibited in the halls in different sections.


Three years after a devastating earthquake, the worst-hit areas in Sichuan and neighboring provinces, phoenix-like, have risen from the rubble.


Ninety-five percent of reconstruction projects have been completed, with the remainder set to be finished by the end of September, Mu Hong, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the top economic planning agency, said on Tuesday at a news briefing hosted by the State Council Information Office.


By the end of April, 885.15 billion yuan (US$136 billion), or 92.37 percent of the overall reconstruction budget, had been spent, according to official figures from the NDRC.


In Sichuan alone, nearly 3,000 schools, 1,000 hospitals and more than 5 million homes have been built or renovated, according to Wei Hong, executive vice-governor of Sichuan province.


Mu said government goals for reconstruction have been basically met.

“Now every family has been provided a home and a job, and everyone is protected by social security. Infrastructure has been upgraded, the economy developed and ecology improved,” he said.


The 8.0-magnitude earthquake jolted Wenchuan and surrounding areas on May 12, 2008, killing at least 87,000 people and leaving millions homeless. Neighboring provinces, such as Gansu and Shaanxi, were also affected.

The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Islamabad helped in preparing this report.