BEIJING: The Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has allocated 20 million yuan (about 2.9 million U.S. dollars) in funds to assist with disaster relief and reconstruction efforts following a 6.8-magnitude earthquake in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.
The funding comes from Party fees collected from CPC members and administered by the department on behalf of the CPC Central Committee.
The department has urged Party organizations, members and officials at all levels in the quake-hit areas to make saving lives their top priority and to do their utmost to minimize deaths and injuries caused by the disaster. They are also required to spare no effort in the disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction, and join the frontline of disaster response.
The department also stressed that the fund should be promptly allocated to the primary level of the quake-hit areas, so as to benefit those working on the frontline and those who are seriously suffering from the disaster, among other uses. At least 65 people are confirmed dead after an earthquake hit China’s southwestern Sichuan province on Monday, according to Chinese media.
Aftershocks were still being felt on Tuesday, state media said, a day after the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said a 6.6-magnitude quake shook the region southwest of Sichuan’s capital Chengdu around 1 p.m. Monday.
So far 248 injuries have been reported and at least 12 people remain missing, according to state media. China activated a Level 3 emergency response and dispatched rescue workers to Luding County on Monday, according to China’s State Council. Chinese broadcaster CGTN said rescue workers were helping to clear roads blocked by landslides triggered by the quake. Sichuan, a province of 84 million people, was already facing a very challenging summer before the powerful quake. In the last two months, the province has endured drought and its worst. –Agencies
