Support program offers escape from mud homes
Print Edition
IN her dark, dank hovel in Ganzhou, east China’s Jiangxi Province, Zhong Nianfa (not her real name) uses a washing machine given by her son to store sweet potatoes and carrots.
The ramshackle mud house the 78-year-old farmer calls home has barely enough electricity to power appliances like washing machines.
Zhong is one of scores of Chinese farmers who still live in old mud houses in Ganzhou, home to the early revolutionary activities of the Communist Party of China, where wartime damage, unfavorable geological conditions and a dearth of government support have made the area a land of poverty.
But soon, the farmers will bid farewell to their huts and move into modern apartments, as a central government program is implemented in the former revolutionary base.
The program, launched in 2012, aims to improve the livelihood of villagers by providing safe drinking water and access to an electricity grid, and boosting economic development.
Since its debut, the program has helped 2.6 million farmers move home.
New hope
Before the government initiative, about 695,000 households in Ganzhou, or 3 million people, lived in cramped mud houses. The houses are mostly tucked away in the mountains, where Jiangxi’s constant rainfall wages a battle with the mud structures.
Former resident Hua Chongqi said it was difficult living in such a house.
“Whenever it rained, the roof leaked and we had to put bowls out to catch all of the drips,” he said.
The houses were very susceptible to water damage and, even when it wasn’t raining, were extremely damp, he said.
“I have developed arthritis after living in the old house for years,” he said.
Hua’s wife, Liu Daoxiu, said she always feared their home would be destroyed on a rainy or wind days.
Ganzhou is an inland city with a complex landscape. It was important in early revolutionary activities due to its remote mountain ranges, but the geographical advantage during wartime has now become a developmental stumbling block.
Regional development
Just after reforms began in the late 1970s, the government tried to push regional development.
Ganzhou, however, failed to win any major projects or investment due to its geography, resulting in slow, sometimes nonexistent, industrial growth.
More than 200,000 people in Ganzhou are currently living below China’s poverty line, of 2,300 yuan (US$367) a year.
But with targeted government support to bring new prospects for farmers in Ganzhou, the days of living in mud hovels maybe coming to an end.
By the end of last year, more than 11.1 billion yuan had been handed out by the Ganzhou government to help deal with the issue, with the family members of revolutionary martyrs, the handicapped and low-income families getting first financial aid in the program.
More money will be poured into the housing transformation project this year, according to the local government.
With the help of the program, He Qingdong, a villager who used to live in a mud house in Ganzhou’s Dongfeng Village, moved into a new three-story building just days before the Spring Festival holiday.
“I am just happy that the bitter days are finally over,” the 48-year-old said.
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