Sichuan: Anger at local officials in An county

I would say, the wrath of heaven is merciless but the officials in our county are even more merciless.
– Resident of An county, Sichuan

The soldier on relief work in this interview is saying that there are basically no more signs of life in Beichuan county, Sichuan, where two-thirds of the population was killed in the quake.

“Everyone has moved out now. The only people left behind are the ones dealing with the corpses because there are so many of them. Apart from dealing with the dead, we also have to repair roads and infrastructure, and deliver food and water to quake survivors in the disaster area. We are delivering food and water to any areas which are still accessible by road,” he said. The authorities have now set up a disaster relief command center in the county town to serve the surrounding relief effort, he said.

Thursday, May 22
by RFA Mandarin service reporter Lin Di

All is not well in An county, near the city of Mianyang, in Sichuan. Grief is turning to brewing anger.

On the main road into An county, I see an old man in his 70s. Seeing that I am a foreign journalist, he tells me he is upset with how the domestic media has been covering the quake:

“There was no organized evacuation. After the quake we lived in tents for two or three days and no one from the government looked after us. If the county Party secretary and the county chief dared to show their faces now they would be crucified. Eventually we got some food. The people see things clearly. It says in the newspaper that the wrath of heaven is merciless but that the compassion of human beings is merciful. I would say, the wrath of heaven is merciless but the officials in our county are even more merciless. Reporters should speak to us more, instead of the government. How truthful are the figures they get from the government? How much can you trust government officials?”

A crowd begins to gather around us when passers-by see my tape-recorder. A man in his 30s stops and speaks into my mike: “Our town is a forgotten corner in the quake-devastated area. Seventy percent of the houses here have been rendered uninhabitable by the quake.”

The crowd continues to grow. One man complains that not all those still missing have been found. Another says he wonders how much of the relief material will reach this part of the country: “If the government does not do a good job with reconstruction, if we are still living in tents when the cold and damp Sichuan winter arrives… there will be trouble.”