DATE=3/17/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA - WORLD BANK (L ONLY) CQ
NUMBER=2-260275
BYLINE=STEPHANIE MANN
DATELINE=BEIJING
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The World Bank has announced that China has
suspended a controversial resettlement program in the
western part of the country, pending a report by an
inspection team. V-O-A correspondent Stephanie Mann
reports a senior World Bank official is visiting China
and spoke about the project at a new conference in
Beijing.
TEXT: The World Bank's new vice president for East
Asia, Jemal-ud-din Kassum, was asked about the status
of a plan to move 58-thousand poor Chinese farmers
into an ethnic Tibetan area of Qinghai province.
Last June, the World Bank approved a 40 million dollar
loan to help build a dam for an irrigation project in
the county where the farmers are to be resettled.
Tibetans in exile have criticized the relocation
program, saying it will disrupt the culture and
livelihood of the area's indigenous people - mostly
Tibetan and Mongolian herders. And environmentalists
say the project will cause ecological damage to the
area.
After critics called on the World Bank to halt its
funding for the project, the Bank agreed to allow an
independent team to inspect the area and evaluate the
situation. The inspection was conducted in October,
and Mr. Kassum says the resettlement program has been
put on hold until the group's report is finished.
/// KASSUM ACT ///
Our latest understanding is the report of the
panel is likely to be made available in the
latter half of April. That component of the
project is on hold, pending availability of the
report and analysis of its conclusions.
/// END ACT ///
China has said the relocation program is the only way
to improve the lives of impoverished farmers who now
live in areas only marginally suitable for farming.
And China says critics of the project are anti-China.
Mr. Kassum, who became the World Bank vice president
for East Asia at the beginning of this month, was in
Beijing for meetings with top Chinese officials. He
is also visiting China's southwestern Guizhou
province.
Mr. Kassum says he expects the bank to provide five
billion to seven billion dollars in new loans to China
over the next three years. Of that, he says about one
billion dollars will go toward China's newly announced
plan to developed its impoverished western regions.
He says the bank wants to help those provinces in an
integrated way in a variety of sectors, including
transportation, environment, water, and education.
/// REST OPTIONAL ///
Over the last 20 years, the World Bank has financed
more than 200 projects in China, totaling more than 35
billion dollars. Mr. Kassum says the China portfolio
is the largest in the World Bank. He says the bank
has financed about 30 percent of China's highway
system, and been heavily involved in water
conservation and poverty alleviation programs.
(Signed)
NEB/SMN/FC/PLM/JO
17-Mar-2000 10:12 AM EDT (17-Mar-2000 1512 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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