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Hu Jintao vows to replace collapsed schools

AFP

Chinese President Hu Jintao speaks to rescuers during his visit amid the earthquake devastation in Kyigudo in eastern Tibet (Ch: Jiegu, Yushu country, in China’s Qinghai province) on 18 April 2010. Hu travelled to remote quake-hit northwestern China to inspect relief efforts as rescuers struggled to cope with a disaster that has killed more than 1,400 people.AFP/Getty Images/Liu Jin/China

Chinese President Hu Jintao promised new schools and homes on Sunday as he met survivors of the earthquake in the country’s northwest, against a background of concern about shoddy buildings.

At least 100 students and 12 teachers died as schools and dormitories crumbled when the 7.1-magnitude quake hit Yushu county in Qinghai province on Wednesday, state media reported, adding dozens more children were missing.

“There will be new schools! There will be new homes!” Hu wrote in chalk on a blackboard while visiting orphans in a tent-turned-makeshift classroom in Yushu, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The Chinese leader had the orphans — in class on a Sunday — repeat the words after him.

The schools issue has become extremely sensitive in China since thousands of children died in May 2008 in the huge Sichuan quake, in which many school buildings collapsed while neighbouring structures stood firm.

At the time, angry Sichuan parents levelled corruption allegations at local officials, saying corners were cut on safety and construction quality.

Hu raised the issue of schools again on Sunday during a television interview, the People’s Daily newspaper reported.

“Concerning our children, we must create conditions as soon as possible so that they can return to temporary school buildings and go back to school. There is a lot of work to be done. We will try our best,” Hu said.

The reports did not say whether Hu addressed the issue of ensuring schools can withstand earthquakes.

Zou Ming, a national civil defence official, said on Thursday that authorities had reinforced public buildings including primary and middle schools and residential buildings after the Sichuan quake, Xinhua reported.

But anger over the latest collapses filled Chinese Internet groups, with many Web users alleging corruption was killing students.

Copyright © 2010 AFP

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