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China has been successfully running a supervision system to look after the rights of migrants from the Three Gorges Project in central China's Hubei Province.
Millions of residents from the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have to leave their homes and migrate to neighboring areas during ongoing construction of the Three Gorges Dam.
The supervisors, among them respected experts in agriculture, economics and geology, have been responsible since 1994 for urging local governments to fix the problems the migrants face.
Altogether more than 1,000 supervisors check and monitor more than 1,700 factors affecting large-scale migration, from the resettlement of migrants, the relocation of mines and businesses, to environmental protection.
As members of an independent organization, the supervisors also inspect the planning, development and funding of the migration program. They also check on the quality of houses and fields newly allocated to migrants.
Gong Yuzhi, a 62-year-old farmer from Hubei's Xingshan County, was moved four years ago, but found the field allocated to him was infertile. "The government granted me 3,000 yuan (US$375) to fertilize the soil and also invited experts to teach me the skills for planting oranges," said Gong gratefully.
Now the annual income of Gong's family is 10 times higher than it was before resettlement.
Song Jinmu, head of the supervision center in Xingshan, said: "The residents have had to move because of our country's need for development. In return, we should treat them fairly and look after their rights well."
About 3,700 Xingshan farmers like Gong are satisfied with their resettlement.
Xingshan County, whose entire population must move, was the first place where the migrant supervision scheme was tested.
So far almost 100 percent of urban counties and municipalities in the Three Gorges area have set up the supervision system. The percentage in the countryside is 70.
Statistics from the Three Gorges Project Construction Committee of the State Council show that since the supervision system has been running, migrants' living space per capita has increased between 10 to 17 square meters. The migrants have found their new water and electricity supplies are more reliable and transport conditions have greatly improved as well, thanks to the supervision system.
Construction on the Three Gorges Project, the world's largest hydropower project, began in 1993. The entire project requires the resettlement of 1.3 million people from 22 counties and municipalities, which is estimated to cost 40 billion yuan (US$5 billion).
(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2002)
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