BEIJING, June 10 (Xinhua) -- A regulation on reconstruction in the areas damaged in the May 12 Wenchuan earthquake focuses on the quality of public buildings.
The regulation stipulates that schools, hospitals, stadiums, libraries and other high-occupancy public buildings that were destroyed should be rebuilt to meet higher quake-resistance criteria than those of ordinary buildings.
"All the measures that the regulation covers will help ensure the safety and quality of the reconstruction," Cao Kangtai, director of the State Council's Legislative Affairs Office, said in an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday.
The regulation states that high-occupancy public buildings also include museums, theaters, department stores and large transport stations, which will be rebuilt under more stringent supervision.
An earthquake measuring 8 on the Richter scale hit southwest China's Sichuan Province last month and destroyed thousands of school buildings.
According to the regulation, governments above the county level are responsible for carrying out evaluations of public buildings, facilities and infrastructure that were seriously damaged by the quake and preserving relevant data and samples.
If the evaluations find the projects had quality problems, the projects' sponsors, designers, builders and supervisors will be punished according to the law, it said.
Anyone suspected of giving or taking bribes will face criminal charges, it added.
Fan Zhiyong of the Qiang ethnic group and his wife Yu Xiuying stand in front of their temporary house in the quake-hit Qiaoqiao Village of Mao County in southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 9, 2008. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
BEIJING, June 9 (Xinhua) -- China has promulgated a regulation on reconstruction following the May 12 Wenchuan earthquake disaster.
It was the first of its kind in the country, specially for a single massive quake, designed to lead the reconstruction work into a legal orbit. Full story
BEIJING, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Power lines wrecked by the May 12 quake were fully restored and resumed normal operation in Sichuan Province on Tuesday evening after 29 days of repair, the State Grid said. Full story
MIANYANG, Sichuan Province, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese experts have chosen the new site for Beichuan, the worst-hit county in the May 12 earthquake, in the neighboring Anxian County in southwestern Sichuan Province. Full story
