To what extent has the Resettlement
Program been seen as
successful according to the Chinese Government and other involved parties?
(i) The World Bank opinion/perspective
The World Bank released several reports in which it has highly praised China’s Resettlement Program, calling it highly successful and has held China’s “developmental resettlement” program as a model for other developing countries to follow.
According to the World Bank, China has developed sophisticated, binding policies and procedures for each of the sectors involved in Resettlement and thus a Resettlement Program which covers many small aspects which are often overlooked, and thus the Resettlement policy is seen as successful by the World Bank. |
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(ii) The Chinese Government opinion/perspective
- Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, said during a visit to the exhibition at the National Museum, that the progress of the dam project and resettlement displayed the advantages of China's socialist system, its leadership and government.
- In 2006, Cao Guangjing, deputy general manager with China Yangtze River Three Gorges Development Corp, the state-owned company in charge of the world's largest dam project, said that more than 1.05 million people had been successfully relocated over the past two decades. Cao then further said most of the resettled people were satisfied with their new lives and were enjoying better living conditions.
- According to Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan, meeting people at the dam helped the government in successful resettlement.
- Some Chinese Government officials have acknowledged the serious Resettlement problem of the Three Gorges Dam:
The project is now greatly benefiting the society in the aspects of flood prevention, power generation, river transportation and water resource utilization,” the government maintained, but it has also “caused some urgent problems in terms of environmental protection, the prevention of geological hazards and the welfare of the relocated communities. "
(iii) International Rivers Network opinion/perspective
As reported by the INTERNATIONAL RIVERS NETWORK:
The project has been plagued by corruption, spiralling costs, environmental impacts, human rights violations and Resettlement difficulties. The Three Gorges Dam is a model for disaster, yet Chinese companies are replicating this model both domestically and internationally. Eyewitness accounts, document that the reality does not live up to these promises of the Chinese Government regarding the vast numbers of people who are being resettled to make way for the Three Gorges Project. The project is based on the exploitation and the widespread abuse of the human rights of the more than one million people that are being resettled by it. According to eyewitnesses, the police have used “excessive force” to quell the numerous protests against the resettlement problems, and thus the Three Gorges Project has become “an instrument of repression with widespread human rights abuses.” Furthermore, large communities displaced by the reservoir – for example the peasants of Yunyang and Kaixian – earn as little as one third of the World Bank’s absolute poverty line of one dollar per day. |
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(iv) Opinion/perspective of the people according to International Media reports
We are living off our compensation, but it was only 11,500 yuan ($2,095). Can you imagine how long that money will last? When this is spent, we will have to go out and beg on the streets. "
Another woman in her fifties says she was offered only 100sq m of apartment space as compensation for a much larger three-storey house. Her new place was supposed to be ready two years ago and she's still waiting:
``I am angry,'' she shouted. ``Tell the central Government what is happening. We believe they gave compensation money but the lower levels of government did something wrong." |
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Her neighbor, was blunter.
Some of the money was not given out to people because of corruption,'' she said.
- However, certain media say that many relocated people are happy about the move. That the people have left behind mud walled, dirt-floor hut with an outdoor privy and no windows for new apartments with water, gas, electricity, toilets and $1.80-a-month rent, and that now some people have earned enough in compensation to buy a couple of houses and rent them out for income.
As we can see, according to most of the Chinese Government, the Resettlement program/policy has been highly successful, and they feel that the resettled people as well agree with this. Although, a few government officials do think that resettlement has been a problem.
The World Bank strongly believes in the Resettlement policy. However, it must be noted, that world bank funded the TGD and published its reports before the construction of the actual dam- when relocation had just started, thus the World Bank reports lacks hindsight and may even be biased.
The IRN (International Rivers Network), has strongly been against the TGD with regards to its resettlement policy and other issues. According to the views of the people, most say that they are not happy with the resettlement, however a few say they are. However, it must be noted that people have been arrested for speaking against the dam- thus a lot of people may be afraid, and furthermore, the Chinese government has strong censorship laws, banning most local media from speaking out against the dam.
Overall, to the Chinese Government and the World Bank, the resettlement program has been a success. However, that is not so much the case with the resettled people and external human right organizations such as the International Rivers Network.
The World Bank strongly believes in the Resettlement policy. However, it must be noted, that world bank funded the TGD and published its reports before the construction of the actual dam- when relocation had just started, thus the World Bank reports lacks hindsight and may even be biased.
The IRN (International Rivers Network), has strongly been against the TGD with regards to its resettlement policy and other issues. According to the views of the people, most say that they are not happy with the resettlement, however a few say they are. However, it must be noted that people have been arrested for speaking against the dam- thus a lot of people may be afraid, and furthermore, the Chinese government has strong censorship laws, banning most local media from speaking out against the dam.
Overall, to the Chinese Government and the World Bank, the resettlement program has been a success. However, that is not so much the case with the resettled people and external human right organizations such as the International Rivers Network.