‘I’d be on my own if I didn’t sign’: Tianjin blast homeowners tell of pressure, even threats to jobs, to accept compensation agreements

Three weeks after the deadly warehouse explosion in Tianjin, residents whose homes were destroyed still feel neglected, despite the government’s announcements of progress in the disaster’s aftermath.

The Tianjin government will build a park and a monument at the site of the August 12 blast, Xinhua reported on Saturday. A new primary school and kindergarten will also be built, it added.

Like the 911 memorial in New York, there will be a pool to commemorate the dead – the toll stood at 161 on Monday – the Tianjin-based Daily News reported. Sculptures will memorialise the scores of firefighters killed at the scene. The construction will be completed by next July.

The removal of dangerous chemicals at the blast site was almost complete, with the last tank removed on Monday, the city’s news portal Tianjinwe.com reported on Tuesday.

However, in the eyes of many owners of homes severely damaged in the blast, the issue of compensation is far from settled.

The Binhai New Area government said last Friday that owners of more than 9,000 damaged homes, out of a total of roughly 10,000 – had signed compensation agreements. But owners who spoke to the South China Morning Post said the official figure was flawed.