The Chinese government pledged on Tuesday to improve its
emergency response and disaster relief capability, as the country
has experienced its most severe natural disasters since 1998.
Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu said the country's early
warning and disaster monitoring network will be upgraded, the
construction quality of residential buildings and infrastructure
will be improved along with enforcement of emergency response
measures and disaster relief.
He said China suffers some of the most serious natural disasters
in the world and the country's ability to predict and cope with
disasters is rather limited.
"Improving emergency response and disaster relief is an
important task in building a harmonious society," Hui said at a
disaster-relief seminar on Tuesday.
The vice premier requested all local governments and departments
to improve their sense of responsibility and spare no effort in
improving emergency response and disaster relief.
He also said that efforts should be made to improve public
awareness to improve people's ability to survive when disaster
strikes.
A variety of natural disasters have killed 2,309 Chinese people,
left 567 people missing this year. The disasters caused direct
economic losses of 191.8 billion yuan and over 13.2 million people
were evacuated and relocated.
So far, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has allocated 3.2 billion
yuan of from the central government's emergency disaster relief
funds and sent 44,100 tents to affected areas.
Hui said China's disaster-hit areas are currently undergoing
intense and orderly reconstruction.
He asked local governments and departments to enhance assistance
to the disaster-hit areas, speed up the reconstruction of the
destroyed residential buildings and ensure that "everyone affected
by the disasters have access to food, clothing, shelter, clean
water and timely medical treatment."
(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2006)