Economy

CPC member donations help rebuild houses for quake survivors

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-14 10:42

BEIJING: Houses for accommodating more than 1.37 million quake survivor families in southwestern China have been built with donations from the Communist Party of China (CPC) members, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee said Tuesday.

The quake zone house rebuilding program, which was finished in late March, has benefited 1.31 million households in Sichuan province, 58,700 in Gansu, and 4,500 in Shaanxi, Chongqing and Yunnan combined, said the department in a statement.

Thanks to the house reconstruction program, quake survivors are now able to live in an environment featuring improved infrastructure for water conservation, telecommunication and sanitation.

Financing of the house reconstruction program in west China's quake zone totaled 5.4 billion yuan (about $794.12 million), which was part of the 9.73 billion yuan donated by CPC members across China.

A magnitude-8.0 earthquake struck in May 2008, with the epicenter in Wenchuan of Sichuan province, leaving more than 86,600 people dead or missing. Shortly after that powerful quake, the CPC members nationwide volunteered to make donations, under a theme of "special membership fees", for quake survivors.

The rest of the donated money has gone for other relief programs in quake zone, including reconstruction of schools, village-level entertainment centers, facilities for correspondence education, as well as health centers and nursing homes, some of which are still under construction, according to the the statement.