China's Ministry of Civil Affairs Saturday urged all localities
to make unremitting efforts in disaster relief and give top
priority to ensuring the safety of people's lives.
Since mid-June, floods and flood-induced landslides and
mudslides have left 124 people dead, 69 missing and displaced 1.52
million people in south and east China by 4:00 PM Friday.
In an urgent circular, the ministry spelled out a series of
measures to be taken by various localities in the disaster relief
work:
-- Initiate all systems in the program to cope with emergencies
once disasters occur, including transfer, relocation, supply of
materials, guarantee of lives and medical treatment operations.
-- Closely monitor the conditions of disasters and transfer
people out of dangerous areas timely. Keep close contact with
relevant departments.
-- Ensure there are people on duty round the clock to report and
transmit information on disaster and disaster relief situation as
soon as possible. There should also be people on duty 24 hours a
day at the central disaster relief materials storage depot.
If delaying, covering up, and inaccuracy in the reporting system
caused major impact or serious consequences, relevant personnel
will be penalized.
-- Speed up the storage of disaster relief materials and goods
and ensure the transport routes go unobstructed.
-- Personally enter disaster areas to learn the needs of those
areas and concretely guarantee the basic living conditions of the
victimized people.
For people newly affected by the disasters, rescue and aid
measures should be made available to them in 24 hours. Concrete
measures should be taken to ensure the victims have access to food,
clean drinking water, clothes, dwelling places and medical
service.
Meanwhile, efforts should be made to organize the masses of
people to start reconstruction work.
-- Vigorously publicize knowledge on disaster prevention and
alleviation, including knowledge on shunning risks and
self-protection.
-- Strengthen leadership to enhance organizational and
coordination levels and adopt the responsibility system at various
levels to ensure disaster relief work is carried out in an orderly
way.
Floods subside, relief underway in China
Water levels which once surpassed warning lines in major rivers
in south and east China saw continuous drop with reduction of
rainfalls in these areas, said the Office of State Flood Control
and Drought Relief Headquarters Saturday.
Water in most sections of the Xijiang River, which runs through
southern Guangdong
Province and the Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region, dropped below the warning line
Saturday, the office said.
And all the reaches of the Minjiang River, a major river in
eastern Fujian
Province, and its tributaries, saw the water level below the
warning line.
Flood control work, however, is still tough in these areas, said
E Jingping, general secretary of the office and vice-minister of
Water Resources.
Weather forecast said moderate to heavy rainfall is expected to
sweep Guangxi in the coming two days and might pose new challenge
for flood control in Xijiang.
The forecast also said the country's north, in addition to its
south, southwest, east and central areas, is expected to see
rainstorms in the coming day.
E said the floods caused severe losses to the country, and
relief work and reconstruction have begun in the areas where floods
began to subside.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs said Friday that so far this year,
floods and ensuing calamities caused 567 people dead, 165 missing
and the emergency relocation of 2.46 million people in the country,
resulting in direct economic losses of 22.9 billion yuan (about
US$2.77 billion).
Earlier this week, President Hu
Jintao, also General Secretary of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China (CPC), urged governments at all levels to
be conscientious in their service to the people and in the
flood-control fight.
Premier Wen
Jiabao, member of the Standing Committee of the Political
Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said duty in flood control
work must be defined clearly among governmental departments and
local officials.
Wen also said big rivers and major reservoirs should be under
intensive monitoring, and the safety of major cities and roads
should be taken as a priority.
In Guangdong, more than 1.33 million people are mobilized to
fight against floods, and the provincial government had allocated
15.05 million yuan (US$1.82 million) for relief.
Also, quarantine has started. In Guangxi, more than 300 medical
teams and epidemic prevention teams were dispatched to flood-hit
areas, and 20 tons of disinfectant and pesticide were provided to
people there.???
(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2005)