Reconstruction in Tibet's quake-hit Damxung County to start

BEIJING,April 21 (Xin***) -- Post-quake
reconstructionin Tibet's Damxung County will start beforeMay
depending on weather conditions, in a bid to ensure project quality, according
to a leading official.

Two children play near the timber for
house building at the quake-hit area of Yangyi Village, Geda Town, Damxung
County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on
April 20, 2009. (Xinhua Photo)
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A 6.6-magnitude earthquake jolted Damxung County on
October 6, 2008, with Yangyi Village hit the hardest. Since all the houses and
barns of the 151 households were flatterned, villagers could only live in tents
provided by the government.

With theadvent of winter, however,
reconstruction workin this area was suspended due to the high altitude and
tough climatic conditions.

Since April, the villagers have been busy ***
preparations for their home rebuilding. However, the ground-breaking ceremony
scheduled on April 20 was postponedbecause ofthesharp
temperature differencebetween the day and night.

Zhala, secretary of Yangyi Village Branch of the
Communist Party of China, said, "It has been very cold in the night these days.
If we start reconstruction now, the cement blocks will be frozen up, thus
affecting the project quality."

Construction workers make preparations
for the reconstruction of Yangyi Village, Geda Town, Damxung County of
Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on April 20,
2009. (Xinhua Photo)
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"Since the government spent such a large amount of
money building new houses for us, we have to be responsible for our own
homeland. Once the weather turns good, the reconstruction work will begin no
later than May 1."

By now, preparations for rebuilding have been ready,
with sufficient supplies of sand, stones and cement. Villagers and builders from
the nearby Nyemo County are also busy *** preparations.

The government will give each household a subsidiary
of 30,000 yuan, in addition to 1,500 yuan per capita, according to Zhaxi. The
floor space of each house will be in the range of60 to 100 sq meters.


The new houses, with a cement-block structure, willbe capable ofwithstanding strong earthquakes. All the disaster victims are expected to move into new homes before September 30.

Construction workers make preparations
for the reconstruction of Yangyi Village, Geda Town, Damxung County of
Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on April 20,
2009. (Xinhua Photo)
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Villagers of Yangyi Village, Geda Town,
Damxung County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous
Region, select a reconstruction site, on April 20, 2009. (Xinhua Photo)

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