Relief work in the snowstorm-hit areas is progressing well,
officials said on Friday.
In some areas, transport is back to normal and electricity
supply has almost been fully restored, they said.
Li Pumin, a spokesman for the National Development and Reform
Commission, said at a press conference in Beijing on Friday: "By
the end of next month we expect to complete repairs to damaged
power grids, fully restoring electricity supply to all areas."
Li was also speaking on behalf of the disaster relief and
emergency command center, which was set up at the end of last month
to coordinate the fallout from the country's worst snowstorms in
five decades. So far, a total of 107 people have died and direct
economic loss has been put at 111 billion yuan ($15.5 billion).
"Most national, provincial and trunk roads were open as of 5 pm
Thursday. However, in the provinces of Guangxi and Yunnan some are
still closed due to severe ice," Li said.
On Wednesday, railway stations dealt with more than 5 million
passengers, an increase of 82,000 on the same day last year.
More than 70 percent of damaged power grids and transformer
substations have resumed operations, Li said, after the State Grid
and China Southern Power Grid sent 210,000 workers to carry out
repairs.
As of Thursday, there were almost 36,000 power lines and more
than 1,700 transformer substations still in need of repair or
rebuilding-a great loss to the State Grid, China Southern Power
Grid and many other local power companies.
"Dealing with transport, power and people's livelihoods is at
the top of our relief work agenda," Li said.
The rebuilding of wrecked houses is expected to be completed by
the end of June, he said.
"By scientifically allocating manpower, materials and financial
resources, we will try to reduce the losses caused by the
snowstorms," Li said.
As the central government shifts its efforts to help people
rebuild their homes, emphasis is also being placed on the
restoration of farms to ensure an adequate supply of fruit and
vegetables.
New seedlings are being planted and damage to the agricultural
infrastructure is being assessed.
To date, the central government has allocated 5.48 billion yuan
to the disaster relief fund and has received donations in cash and
kind totaling 1.19 billion yuan.
More than 180,000 medical workers have so far treated 385,000
disaster victims.
Coal production continues to increase, and there is enough in
reserve to ensure adequate power supply, Zhu Hongren, deputy
department director in charge of the NDRC's economic operations,
said.
Grain and oil prices continue to be stable in the disaster
areas, while vegetable prices continue to fall, Zhu said.
(China Daily February 16, 2008)