China's Ministry of Finance has spent 2.7 billion yuan (US$375
million) over the past month on relief for areas affected by the
severe winter weather and has allocated another 6.3 billion yuan
for the work, senior ministry official You Mingchun said on
Thursday.
Vice Minister of Civil Affairs Li Liguo told a press conference
on Thursday that the central government would most likely spend
more on the disaster relief, without revealing the scale of further
financial support.
Li said his ministry would work with the ministries of commerce,
agriculture and health to ensure that residents in
disaster-stricken areas have sufficient food, clothing and shelter
and adequate medical services. Primary and middle school education
should be guaranteed.
Li said the Ministry of Civil Affairs had arranged a raise in
subsistence allowances for low-income earners in urban areas. It
would formulate reconstruction schemes for the disaster-hit areas
in March and complete restoration work on collapsed housing before
the end of June.
Extreme weather has left 107 people dead and eight missing, and
cost about 111.1 billion yuan (US$15.4 billion).
Twenty-one provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have
been affected. About 1.5 million people have been relocated, and
1.93 million people were left stranded before finding
transport.
The freak weather affected almost 24.4 million hectares of
farmland and 18.6 million hectares of forests, leading to the
collapse of about 354,000 houses.
(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2008)