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Taxpayers' money for quake areas will be well spent, pledge charities

Celine Sun

Hong Kong charities that have received taxpayers' money for reconstruction projects in earthquake-devastated areas of Sichuan province have pledged the funds will be well spent.

The government has provided 10 charities a total of HK$87 million to help in rebuilding in the southwestern province, where the May 12 quake killed at least 88,000 people and made millions homeless.

Of the 10, the Association of Chinese Evangelical Ministry (ACEM) and Sowers Action have received the most money - HK$20 million and HK$15 million respectively to rebuild four schools. Both groups have vowed to implement controls to ensure the money is used efficiently to produce high-quality buildings.

ACEM will rebuild damaged classrooms at two secondary schools in Nanchong , a city which has received relatively little outside help in the eight months since the quake struck. More than 8,700 students are expected to use the teaching blocks when work is completed.

Reverend Woo Siu-hok, chief executive officer of the association, said the money was the most the group had ever received from the government. 'We were thrilled when we learned that our proposal had been accepted. We also felt a heavy responsibility,' he said.

Based on its experience in building schools and churches on the mainland, the group will open the contract for construction work to public bidding. It plans to invite veteran engineers from Hong Kong and the mainland to make regular on-the-spot inspections of the project.

'We intend to hire two to three engineers dedicated to monitoring the progress of construction, workmanship and the quality of the construction materials they use,' Mr Woo said.

Meanwhile Sowers Action, which has built 850 schools in remote areas of the mainland since it was set up in 1992, said it would never compromise on the quality of buildings.

The charity will help two schools in the city of Deyang rebuild classrooms and dormitories. It will also offer the school's teachers training in computer skills, English language and building maintenance.

Toni Zen Tung-yee, director of the group's China services department, said it would assign staff to Sichuan every month to closely watch the progress of construction.

It would release funding for the work to its contractors in five or six stages, and the contractors would have to complete a quality audit at the end of each stage. 'We want to take the most use of every dollar to help the students,' Ms Zen said.

Sowers Action's partnership with the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers is another guarantee the project will be a success. Members of the professional body will be involved in every step of the construction work.

One of those people is Alexander Ho Yat-kwong, who for years has worked voluntarily for Sowers Action on school-building projects.

'We might not be able be entirely prevent cheating on construction work or materials. But we are fully confident that the schools we build are fine and safe for the students to use,' he said.

Cash injection

Millions of dollars have been allocated to help rebuild Sichuan

The amount the government has given 10 charities involved in projects in the quake-hit region, in HK dollars: $87m

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