【10.01.21 TIMES】Haiti and China: A Tale of Two Earthquakes

LordChinese

Haiti and China: A Tale of Two Earthquakes

By Austin Ramzy / Beijing – Thu Jan 21, 3:45 pm ET

Looking for parallels to Haiti's catastrophe, many point to China. In May 2008, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck the southwestern province of Sichuan,pancaking schoolhouses, buildings and homes and killing at least 68,000people. But the ferocity of the tremor and a huge death toll may be theonly parallels between the two quake-stricken nations.
                 
Iwent back to Sichuan six months after the catastrophe and was amazed atthe speed of physical and economic recovery. In Dujiangyan, the largestcity in the quake zone, the rubble and the tent cities had disappeared.The jumble of debris was replaced by piles of new bricks, lumber andother construction materials. There was a building boom across theregion, and dozens of temporary villages were erected to house the fivemillion people rendered homeless by the quake. The prefab housingwas made out of blue aluminum siding lined with styrofoam insulation.They had cement floors and were arranged in neat rows in flat spots atthe bases of the mountains. Conditions weren't luxurious, but the campswere clean and the housing dry and fairly warm.

Ifound no evidence of homelessness, though there were reports of peoplein the mountains who refused to spend their rebuilding funds and choseto remain in tents. "When you compare this to the tsunami and othermajor disasters, it's rare to see something so efficient take place. Itwas well-organized and well-planned. All the international people thatcame in spoke very highly of this," says Ramsey Rayyis, regionalrepresentative for the American Red Cross in China.
                 
China has several advantages over Haitiwhen it comes to reconstruction. While China's disaster affectedmillions, the destruction was concentrated in rural areas and smallertowns, not a dense city. The mountainous parts of Sichuan andsurrounding provinces hit by the 2008 quake are poor, they are notdestitute; and they all had a basic standard of food and watersupplies, access to medicine and health care, transportation andcommunications infrastructure. When much of that was wiped out by thequake, China's central governmentresponded quickly, sending tens of thousands of soldiers andparamilitary troops to the region. They freed trapped survivors,delivered food and water, rebuilt roads and ensured stability. Iwitnessed no incidents of looting or other lawlessness when I was therein the days immediately following the quake. While there were safetyconcerns due to landslides and aftershocks, there was no danger ofviolence. "You do have a strong central government, a government that'sable to support the people, and I think that makes a difference," saysRayyis. "Whereas in a place like Haiti, that's going to be a struggle.You're going to need a lot more external intervention."

Withsuch speedy reconstruction, there are obviously questions about thequality of building. At the same time, there has been an intense focuson controlling graft. Despite allegations that corruption led to theconstruction of shoddy schools in the first place, China hasn'tpunished anyone for any wrongdoing that occurred before the earthquake.Grieving parents who protested over the deaths of their children incollapsed schools were silenced through payments and threats ofpunishment if they continued their agitation. Officials have declaredthat the extent of the destruction was due to the intensity of thetemblor, not substandard buildings. But the government has taken a hardline on misuse of rebuilding funds, and a handful of people have beenpunished. While the size of rebuilding efforts means that there willinevitably be some graft, the extent of official and unofficialscrutiny means it is one of the riskier places in China to skim funds.
                 
In2008 the government said it would spend $176 billion on reconstructionby 2011. (The total recovery cost is estimated at $250 billion). As oflast June it had already spent more than $50 billion. Some of theexpenses have been shouldered by other part of China. Twenty provinceshave set aside 1% of fiscal revenues for two years to help rebuild Sichuan.That's another advantage that China has over Haiti. As a large nationwith a rapidly growing economy, it can divert money from moreprosperous areas to aid one devastated region.
                 
Likewise,the economy of the quake zone has done well. Much of the region wasagricultural, and farmers were able to get back to work fairly soonafter the disaster. The massive rebuilding effort also provided directinvestment and job opportunities. Several of the dislocated people Imet in the temporary camps had family members working onreconstruction. Overall the quake region produced less than 1% ofChina's GDP, so it did little to slow the national growth engine. Achief concern was that rebuilding would contribute to inflation. Thatwas largely forgotten over the past year.

原文地址：http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100121/wl_time/08599195464400

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LordChinese

感谢连长同志~:loveliness:

遥远的冬天

本打算翻，发现已经有人贴了中文版。
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