A work team composed of more than 100 experts arrived at the Three Gorges reservoir area on Saturday to start a location check of the resident relocation work completed under the second phase of the Three Gorges Project.
According to Gao Jinbang, vice-director of the Three Gorges Project Construction Committee Office (TGPCCO), the experts have come from the TGPCCO, the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Communications, the State Environmental Protection Administration, the State Forestry Administration, the State Archives Administration and other related bodies.
Gao said that 12 counties and districts in Central China's Hubei Province and Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality that fall within the reservoir area and under the 135-meter water level mark will undergo the professional inspection.
Experts will inspect and evaluate the clearance of the reservoir bottom, relocation of residents, construction of new cities and towns for the shifted people, relocation of local industrial and mining enterprises, special restoration projects, environmental protection, protection of cultural relics, administration and prevention of geological disasters, Gao said.
Besides inquiries, the experts are required to carry out selective examinations to verify the reports they would be briefed on initials and to form assessments based on on-the-spot checks.
The rules also stipulate that the 12 counties and districts should immediately rectify and reform in line with the suggestions of the experts, in a bid to ensure the successful filling of the reservoir in June.
"As a prelude to the State-class final inspection scheduled on April 24-27, the current experts' check will have significant influence both on the results of the final inspection and on the smooth water storage of the reservoir," said Gao.
From the end of 2002 to the beginning of 2003, counties and districts along the reservoir area all passed self-checks and the provincial or municipal elementary inspections and most have finished rectifying and reforming some special projects proposed in these examinations.
By the end of 2002, the relocation of people for building the second phase of Three Gorges power project had been completed, with a total of 645,200 people moved to new homes.
The world's biggest hydropower project on the Yangtze River's Three Gorges has involved the world's biggest relocation manoeuvre.
(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2003)
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