Villagers angry at losing Jiangmen uranium plant deal
Residents who stood to gain from relocation, compensation for processing plant project angry that protesters in Jiangmen won the day
Far from the jubilant crowds in downtown Jiangmen, the decision to cancel a proposed uranium-processing plant was met with dismay in the remote farming village of Lianzhu.
Villagers there, who were slated to be compensated and relocated to make way for the 37 billion yuan (HK$46.4 billion) facility, suddenly found their hopes for a better life dashed.
"I can't believe that we have had nothing again," one elderly villager told the Sunday Morning Post yesterday. "I almost got all the [relocation] money, but now we have to hand all of it back."
Just a week ago, villagers had expressed optimism over the proposed China National Nuclear Corporation project. Some 160 villages from 48 households had signed an agreement to participate in the local government's relocation plan.
The 229-hectare plant would have affected 13 villages, with Lianzhu providing most of the key land.
Apart from an up-front payment of 220,000 yuan to be distributed among the families, villagers were expected to receive construction subsidies and farmland compensation and be moved to a new site the same size as their current village near their town government headquarters.