‘This is the way Fiji is supposed to be, and we want to keep that’ – audio slideshow
September 9, 2011 No Comment
Two hundred miles east of Fiji’s main island, the Lau archipelago is spectacular and remote – with one flight a week and one place to stay. Kevin Rushby is one of just 20 annual visitors to this old slice of the South Pacific Kevin Rushby
Continue reading …‘This is the way Fiji is supposed to be, and we want to keep that’ – audio slideshow
September 9, 2011 No CommentTwo hundred miles east of Fiji’s main island, the Lau archipelago is spectacular and remote – with one flight a week and one place to stay. Kevin Rushby is one of just 20 annual visitors to this old slice of the South Pacific Kevin Rushby
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Man whose fatal shooting by police sparked riots across England is being buried near home in north London Crowds gathered in north London on Friday for the funeral of Mark Duggan, the man whose fatal shooting by police sparked riots that spread around England. The body of the 29-year-old father of four, who died on 4 August , was taken from his parents’ house in Tottenham through the Broadwater Farm estate, where he grew up, to a church in Wood Green. A private service is to be followed by his burial at Wood Green. A reception will be held at Broadwater Farm. Duggan’s family remain highly critical of police, both over the events which left him with a gunshot wound to the chest and what they say was subsequent misinformation and lack of communication from Scotland Yard and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which is investigating the incident. The Tottenham MP, David Lammy, has criticised the IPCC for leaving Duggan’s family “floundering” and failing to make it clear to local people that it was independent from the police. Dozens of relatives and friends gathered outside the Duggan family home before the funeral vehicle, a white carriage drawn by four plumed horses, arrived shortly after 10am. Bishop Kwaku Frimpong-Manson, who was to lead the funeral at the New Testament Church of God, called mourners to the carriage. “We are going to stretch our hands towards the casket to thank God for Mark’s life as he begins his heavenly journey,” he said. About 100 people stood on the pavement, the silence broken only by the bishop’s short prayer and quiet sobs from Duggan’s mother. Other people gathered outside Tangmere House, on Broadwater Farm, where Duggan grew up. One local man, wearing a black suit with matching trilby, who did not want to be named, explained that there was a strong sense of community on the estate but also the heavy weight of stigma. “Unless you have grown up here you cannot understand,” he said. “You think if people see this address on a job application you are going to get a job? Even if you have done no wrong you have no hope. The only way you can have hope is to move away.” Large numbers of police remain on duty in the wake of the riots, but the presence at the funeral will be low key and involve local officers. “We have met with Mr Duggan’s parents,” a police spokesman said. “In line with the family’s wishes, the policing will reflect the family’s desire for a local, peaceful and dignified funeral.” Clasford Sterling, a veteran youth worker at the Broadwater Farm Community centre said that, while there was still anger in the area, he did not think there would be any trouble. “Today is all about showing respect for his last journey,” he said. “There is always going to be anger – if people are antagonised and pushed, then we have seen what can happen.” The Duggan family has requested that the media stay outside the church and leave them in peace. Duggan was a passenger in a minicab stopped by police near Tottenham Hale tube station when he was shot. The IPCC initially suggested he had fired at an officer before he was shot, but ballistic tests showed the two bullets fired – one of which killed Duggan while the other lodged in an officer’s radio – were both police issue. Another weapon, a blank-firing pistol which had been converted to use live rounds, was recovered near the scene of the shooting. A march to protest at the death escalated into outbreaks of trouble in Tottenham and Wood Green, which spread into four days of serious riots in many locations around England. An inquest into Duggan’s death at north London coroners’ court heard that he died from a single gunshot wound to the chest. Mark Duggan Police UK riots Peter Walker Hugh Muir Alexandra Topping guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Man whose fatal shooting by police sparked riots across England is being buried near home in north London Crowds gathered in north London on Friday for the funeral of Mark Duggan, the man whose fatal shooting by police sparked riots that spread around England. The body of the 29-year-old father of four, who died on 4 August , was taken from his parents’ house in Tottenham through the Broadwater Farm estate, where he grew up, to a church in Wood Green. A private service is to be followed by his burial at Wood Green. A reception will be held at Broadwater Farm. Duggan’s family remain highly critical of police, both over the events which left him with a gunshot wound to the chest and what they say was subsequent misinformation and lack of communication from Scotland Yard and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which is investigating the incident. The Tottenham MP, David Lammy, has criticised the IPCC for leaving Duggan’s family “floundering” and failing to make it clear to local people that it was independent from the police. Dozens of relatives and friends gathered outside the Duggan family home before the funeral vehicle, a white carriage drawn by four plumed horses, arrived shortly after 10am. Bishop Kwaku Frimpong-Manson, who was to lead the funeral at the New Testament Church of God, called mourners to the carriage. “We are going to stretch our hands towards the casket to thank God for Mark’s life as he begins his heavenly journey,” he said. About 100 people stood on the pavement, the silence broken only by the bishop’s short prayer and quiet sobs from Duggan’s mother. Other people gathered outside Tangmere House, on Broadwater Farm, where Duggan grew up. One local man, wearing a black suit with matching trilby, who did not want to be named, explained that there was a strong sense of community on the estate but also the heavy weight of stigma. “Unless you have grown up here you cannot understand,” he said. “You think if people see this address on a job application you are going to get a job? Even if you have done no wrong you have no hope. The only way you can have hope is to move away.” Large numbers of police remain on duty in the wake of the riots, but the presence at the funeral will be low key and involve local officers. “We have met with Mr Duggan’s parents,” a police spokesman said. “In line with the family’s wishes, the policing will reflect the family’s desire for a local, peaceful and dignified funeral.” Clasford Sterling, a veteran youth worker at the Broadwater Farm Community centre said that, while there was still anger in the area, he did not think there would be any trouble. “Today is all about showing respect for his last journey,” he said. “There is always going to be anger – if people are antagonised and pushed, then we have seen what can happen.” The Duggan family has requested that the media stay outside the church and leave them in peace. Duggan was a passenger in a minicab stopped by police near Tottenham Hale tube station when he was shot. The IPCC initially suggested he had fired at an officer before he was shot, but ballistic tests showed the two bullets fired – one of which killed Duggan while the other lodged in an officer’s radio – were both police issue. Another weapon, a blank-firing pistol which had been converted to use live rounds, was recovered near the scene of the shooting. A march to protest at the death escalated into outbreaks of trouble in Tottenham and Wood Green, which spread into four days of serious riots in many locations around England. An inquest into Duggan’s death at north London coroners’ court heard that he died from a single gunshot wound to the chest. Mark Duggan Police UK riots Peter Walker Hugh Muir Alexandra Topping guardian.co.uk
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The government says honest motorists are seeing car insurance premiums rise as insurers seek to cover the costs of increased compensation claims The government hopes to stem rising insurance costs by banning referral fees in personal injury claim cases. The fees, highlighted by former Labour MP Jack Straw in June , are paid to claims management companies, garages and insurance companies who provide details of accidents – often car accidents – to personal injury lawyers. The business is estimated to be worth £3bn a year, and successful claims are paid in most cases by insurance policies. Insurers have covered the cost by passing it on to policyholders in the form of higher premiums. Justice minister Jonathan Djanogly said: “Honest motorists are seeing their premiums hiked up as insurance companies cover the increasing costs of more and more compensation claims. Many of the claims are spurious and only happen because the current system allows too many people to profit from minor accidents and incidents. “Referral fees are one symptom of the compensation culture problem and too much money sloshing through the system.” Djanogly said people were being encouraged to sue at no risk to themselves, “leaving schools, business and individuals living in fear of being dragged to the courts for simply going about daily life”. He added: “We will ban referral fees and we will go further. We have proposals before parliament to end the bizarre situation in which people have no stake in the legal costs their cases bring. This will make claimants think harder about whether to sue and give insurance companies and business generally an incentive to pass the savings on to customers through lower prices.” A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice denied that the announcement was in response to an announcement by the Office of Fair Trading yesterday that it will investigate soaring car insurance premiums to determine whether drivers are being overcharged. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said the industry was committed to keeping costs down for consumers, but reform of the compensation system was necessary if premiums were to come down. Director general Otto Thoresen said: “Rising claims costs from personal injury claims, excessive legal costs, insurance fraud and uninsured driving, coupled with lower investment returns in recent years, have unfortunately led to rising motor insurance bills for many customers. “In fact, the motor insurance sector has not been profitable for the last 16 years because the amount paid out in claims and expenses has been greater than that received in premiums.” Thoresen said moves to reform the compensation system in Ireland had led to a 16% reduction in motor insurance premiums. The news was welcomed by consumer group Which?. Chief executive Richard Lloyd said: “This is great news for motorists. Referral fees feed the growing compensation culture that has been pushing up insurance premiums at a time when many families are already feeling the pinch. It’s absolutely right to ban them, and quickly.” There is no timetable for when the ban will be introduced, but the plan is that it will be a regulatory offence for firms to pay and receive referral fees. The government’s proposals currently before parliament focus on stopping losing defendants having to pay a “success fee”. The government is changing the law so that in future the person making the claim will have to pay the success fee, rather than the defendant, and the fee will be capped. The intended result is a fairer split of costs between parties and lower legal costs overall, which means lower costs to pass on to customers or taxpayers. The proposals follow a Ministry of Justice consultation published in November 2010. Car insurance Insurance Motoring Consumer affairs Insurance industry Jill Insley guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Man whose fatal shooting by police sparked Tottenham riots will be buried in north London Thousands of people are expected to gather in north London this morning for the funeral of Mark Duggan , the man whose fatal shooting by police sparked riots which spread around England. The body of the 29-year-old father of four, who died on 4 August , will be taken from his parents’ house in Tottenham, through the Broadwater Farm estate, where he grew up, to a church in Wood Green. A private service will be followed by the burial in Wood Green. A reception will be held at Broadwater Farm. Duggan’s family remain highly critical of police, over both the events which left him with a gunshot wound to the chest and what they say was subsequent misinformation and lack of communication from Scotland Yard and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which is investigating the incident. The Tottenham MP, David Lammy, has criticised the IPCC for leaving Duggan’s family “floundering” and failing to make it clear to local people that it was independent from the police. Large numbers of police remain on duty in the wake of the riots, but the presence at the funeral will be low-key and involve local officers. “We have met with Mr Duggan’s parents,” a police spokesman said. “In line with the family’s wishes, the policing will reflect the family’s desire for a local, peaceful and dignified funeral.” The family has requested that the media stay outside the church and that they are left in peace. Duggan was a passenger in a minicab which was stopped by police near Tottenham Hale tube station when he was shot. An official account initially suggested Duggan had fired at an officer before he was shot, but ballistic tests showed that the two bullets which were fired – one which killed Duggan and one which lodged in an officer’s radio – were both police issue. Another weapon, a blank-firing pistol which had been converted to use live rounds, was recovered near the scene of the shooting. A march to protest at the death escalated into outbreaks of trouble in Tottenham and Wood Green, which spread into four days of serious riots in many locations around England. An inquest into Duggan’s death at north London coroners court heard he died from a single gunshot wound to the chest. Mark Duggan Police UK riots Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …George Osborne defends deficit reduction plan as UK’s ‘rock of stability’
September 9, 2011 No Comment
• Chancellor again refuses to change direction • IMF boss Christine Lagarde says UK must remain ‘nimble’ • Osborne hints at more quantitiative easing George Osborne mounted a strong defence of his deficit reduction plan on Friday, hailing it as the “rock of stability” that will prevent Britain being wrecked by the global financial crisis. The chancellor again refused to change direction in the face of poor economic news at home and abroad, in a speech in which he reiterated that Britain’s deficit must be vigorously tackled. Otherwise, Osborne warned, Britain’s homeowners and businesses would suffer. “Britain will stick to the deficit plan we’ve set out. It’s the rock of stability on which our recovery is built,” he said. “It’s delivered record low interest rates. Abandoning it would put that at risk. For nothing would be more damaging for Britain at this fragile moment for the world’s economy than an increase in mortgage rates for families and an increase in the cost of borrowing for businesses.” Osborne was speaking at Chatham House in London alongside Christine Lagarde, the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund. She said that the IMF continued to support Osborne’s fiscal consolidation plan, but warned that the deteriorating global economy means the chancellor must remain “nimble”. “Since the summer the outlook has become more subdued, including in the rest of Europe and the United States, the UK’s major trading partners. So risk levels are rising. The policy stance remains appropriate, but this heightened risk means a heightened readiness to respond, particularly if it looks like the economy is headed for a prolonged period of weak growth and high unemployment,” Lagarde said. Osborne acknowledged this point, and said that monetary policy – implemented by the Bank of England – could become more “accommodative” if needed. On Thursday the Bank decided not to increase its quantitative easing programme , but some economists believe this asset-purchasing scheme could soon be enlarged. The meeting came just a day after the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) predicted that the UK economy will barely grow in the second half of 2011 . The OECD also predicted that the eurozone economy will shrink in the final three months of the year. Earlier this week, data showed that UK retail sales fell in August while the dominant services sector suffered its steepest slowdown in a decade . Football, not a tug of war Osborne and Lagarde are heading for Marseille later on Friday for a meeting of G7 finance ministers. This gathering will focus on efforts to revive global growth, but will be dominated by the ongoing European debt crisis. Lagarde said it was crucial for eurozone leaders to rapidly agree the details of the deal hammered out in July, which included a second bailout for Greece. She also warned that some European banks need fresh capital injections to cover losses on sovereign debt and reassure the financial community that they are safe. “We must not underestimate the risks of a further spread of economic weakness, or even a debilitating liquidity crisis,” Lagarde said, harking back to the dark days of 2008. Osborne argued that the current crisis requires a more sophisticated response than three years ago. “In 2008 the world had to act like a tug of war team, all pulling in the same direction. Today, we need to be like a football team – with everyone’s role suited to their positions and abilities if the team is to be successful,” the chancellor said. The global economic slowdown means world leaders must make growth a top priority, although they may lack the tools and the political agreement to be successful, warned US treasury secretary Tim Geithner. “The shocks behind the slowdown – oil prices, Japan’s disaster, the crisis in Europe – are severe enough to have been dangerous even if they had happened during a global boom. They are more dangerous now because they hit a world still healing from financial crisis and because of the general fear that political constraints will prevent governments and central banks from acting sensibly with the tools available,” Geithner wrote in Friday’s Financial Times . America’s President Barack Obama also put growth and employment at the top of the US agenda on Thursday night with a $447bn package aimed at cutting joblessness and stimulating the economy. Economics Global economy Economic policy George Osborne IMF Christine Lagarde Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
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• Press F5 for the latest or our auto-refresh button below • Email your thoughts to barry.glendenning@guardian.co.uk • Click here for our Rugby World Cup interactive guide • And click here for all the live scores and fixtures 2 min: Tonga have possession on the halfway line but despite repeated attempts, can’t make any progress. There have been some big hits early on and the latest, from Sonny Bill Williams, wins the turnover ball for New Zealand. Dan Carter swings his boot and sets up a line-out just inside the Tongan 22. 1 min: Tonga kick off, playing towards the Eastern End of Eden Park. Kurt Morath takes the first kick of the tournament, Ali Williams the first catch, 9.28am: Tonga move slowly to the centre of the field to perform their version of the Haka, to which New Zealand duly respond. There was a bit of a palaver over who would go first and whether each team would respect the other’s, but it’s all passed off rather peacefully. Not long now: The teams emerge from the tunnel in a packed Eden Park, New Zealand led by Richie McCaw and Tonga led by Finau Maka, who was an injury doubt for this game but has been passed fit to play. They line up for their national anthems, which were recorded by the New Zealand National Symphony Orchestra and are being played over the Tannoy. New Zealand’s players are dressed in their customary All Black strip, while Tonga’s wear All Red. 9.15am: “As safe a pair of hands as Steve Rider is, I already have the same impending feel of doom about this Rugby World Cup coverage on ITV in terms of production and lifeless commentary,” writes Daniel Chirwa. “Not promising at all. At least it gets Adrian Chiles mug off early morning TV.” “ITV are crap, what happened to the opening ceremony coverage (not that I am that keen) and is it going to be non-stop updates from the England camp for the entire tournament?” asks Hoppolocos. “Could England be any more relaxed? Pity that Scotland, Wales and Ireland aren’t there so we could updates from their camps … oh hang on.” Crikey! It could be a long tournament. At the moment on ITV, Lawrence Dallaglio and Sean Fitzpatrick are talking tactics Gary Neville-on-Sky Sports-style with the help of a big screen they’re clearly not expecting to work very well. Their technology doesn’t betray them and despite the best attempts of Steve Rider to talk up the chances of Tonga, both former World Cup winners agree that New Zealand will win this game easily by playing better rugby than Tonga. Today’s officials: Irish referee George Clancy will be assisted by touch-judges Craig Joubert from South Africa and Stuart Terheege from England. The TV match official is Giul’o De Santis from Italy. Well, that didn’t take long: At just 9.05am, ITV broadcast their first package about New Zealand being Rugby World Cup chokers. It features a lot of angry Kiwi men swearing into the camera, shouting things like “[BLEEP!]ing disgrace”. I don’t think we’ve read what knock-out rugby is,” says Grant Fox, a winner of the first World Cup with the All Blacks in 1987. New Zealand : Dagg, Kahui, Nonu, S. Williams, Toeava, Carter, Cowan, Woodcock, Hore, O. Franks, Thorn, A. Williams, Kaino, McCaw, Vito. Replacements: Flynn, B. Franks, Boric, Whitelock, Weepu, Slade, Jane. Tonga : Lilo, Iongi, Hufanga, Ma’ilei, Piutau, Morath, Moa, Tonga’uiha, Lutui, Filise, Hehea, Tuineau, Kalamafoni, Maka, Ma’afu. Replacements: Taukafa, Taumalolo, Pulu, Timani, Vahafolau, Fisilau, Fatafehi. Referee: George Clancy (IRFU) The opening ceremony: Sadly, I didn’t get to see this because I don’t think ITV broadcast it, but can confirm that ITV presenter Steve Rider described it as “vibrant”. Meanwhile in my email in-box, Craig Gamble asks “are you as confused by everyone down here by the opening ceremony.” Good morning everybody . After all the talk, the glossy supplements, the warm-up matches and the moaning about Kiwis staging rugby matches at breakfast time in the UK, it’s kick-off time for Rugby World Cup 2011 and the tournament’s opening match features the hosts New Zealand against Tonga at Eden Park in Auckland. Anyone looking for the skinny on the tournament could do worse than peruse our Rugby World Cup special report , which features such myriad delights as our Rugby World Cup preview podcast hosted by Eddie Butler, our stats centre and interactive guide to the tournament , not to mention all the news and comment from the Guardian’s crack team of rugby writers in New Zealand. Rugby World Cup 2011 New Zealand rugby union team Tonga rugby union team Rugby union Barry Glendenning guardian.co.uk
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Former Cuban president appears frail, but well, in photographs published on government website Photographs of a frail but apparently well Fidel Castro were posted on a Cuban government website on Thursday, following recent rumours that the 85-year-old former president was gravely ill or had died. Castro, who had been out of sight for two months, was shown in what looked to be his Havana home chatting with Venezuelan state television commentator Mario Silva, who said he had come to Cuba to put to rest false reports about Castro’s health. “Those who are at this moment enjoying and believing that Comandante Fidel had a stroke, I’m sorry to inform you that he is alive and kicking,” Silva said in a video of his La Hojilla TV programme posted on the Cubadebate website along with the Castro pictures. The programme supports the Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and regularly vilifies his critics. Silva said the photographs of Castro were taken during an interview conducted by him in Havana on Tuesday, a video of which would be screened by the programme later on Thursday. They showed a grey-haired Castro, wearing a white windbreaker and green trousers, sitting, standing, smiling and gesticulating during the interview. A few pictures showed him wearing a floppy, wide-brimmed green camouflage hat. They were the first glimpse of Castro since he had appeared in early July in videos with his friend Chávez, when the latter received treatment for cancer in Cuba. Castro, the leader of Cuba’s 1959 revolution, ruled the Caribbean island for nearly half a century before handing over the Cuban presidency in 2008 to his younger brother Raúl, because of ill health. Fidel Castro had last appeared in public at a Communist party congress in mid-April and has not written any of his once-plentiful Reflexiones , or opinion columns, published by state media, since 3 July. On Thursday, the president of the Cuban parliament, Ricardo Alarcón, told reporters Castro was doing well. “It’s my understanding that he is in perfect conditions of health. Mariela recently said he is alive and kicking, which is very good,” Alarcón said, referring to Mariela Castro, niece of Fidel Castro and daughter of Raúl Castro. Fidel Castro’s absence had provoked a flood of unconfirmed speculation in the past few weeks on social media site Twitter, where repeated reports said he had died or was near death. The frenzy of rumours increased after an anti-Chávez political columnist in the Venezuelan daily El Universal wrote on 30 August that the veteran Cuban revolutionary’s shaky health had become “complicated” and that he was being given intensive care treatment at his home in Havana. Over the last two decades, rumours of Castro’s death have often surfaced, only to be disproved time and again by the appearance of the enduring comandante. “Fidel said long ago that the day he dies nobody is going to believe it, because they have killed him so many times, to no avail,” Alarcón said. Fidel Castro Cuba guardian.co.uk
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State media is hailing the success of a huge project to relocate 345,000 people from the path of diversion channels that will carry water from the south to the arid north. But those who have lost their homes tell a different tale of corruption, shoddy housing and friction in their new communities Visitors to Wang Baoying’s new house must tread softly or they will frighten her son. The four-year-old boy is not afraid of strangers. He is terrified his home will fall down. This is not just the fear of a childish imagination. Wang’s concrete home – built this year to resettle migrants from China’s latest and greatest hydro-engineering project – wobbles when she walks. Her neighbour’s floor has completely collapsed. Another’s bedroom is tilting. There are cracks on many of the walls. “My son cries every night because he thinks the house might collapse,” says Wang, who discovered the problems three days after she moved in to Shuitianyang new village. “It’s terrible. The authorities told us this would be a perfect home.” The former farmer is one of 345,000 people who are being relocated in a desperate bid to ease Beijing’s drought crisis with a transfusion of water from the Yangtze basin, 1,277km to the south. Her old home and farmland will soon be flooded by the central leg of three vast channels that make up the £40bn South-North water diversion , a 50-year project to replenish the arid north of China. According to US diplomatic cables released via WikiLeaks last week , the project is plagued by pollution and misconceived. Though Wang cried when she left her home in Xichuan, village leaders and propaganda slogans assured her the sacrifice was necessary for the nation. Migrants have also been promised new homes, compensation and farmland. But the reality, as many are discovering, is shoddily constructed housing, money that has been skimmed by officials, no jobs and a cold welcome from existing locals who are reluctant to share their property. For the middle leg of the project, the origin of the diversion is Danjiangkou, where bathers plunge into the Han River beneath a vast dam and a giant slogan on the concrete embankment: “People and Water in Harmony, North and South Both Benefit.” Paramilitary police guard the entrance to the reservoir on the other side of the barrier, which will not reach its maximum height until 2014. When the diversion channels are completed, water will flow north to Beijing and buildings along the banks will be submerged. The resettlement from those areas is due to finish by October. As much as any nation can be, China is accustomed to such migrations. Countless millions of farmers have been moved to make way for city expansion and the construction of airports, factories and roads. Hydro-engineering projects account for a major share of this human torrent. Between 1949 and 1999, 17.5 million people – twice the population of London – were relocated for dams. Since then, the pace has accelerated thanks to mega-projects like the Three Gorges dam , which has forced the relocation of 1.5 million people, and the South-North diversion. Many families have been resettled more than once. Zhang Guangren, an elderly woman who farms a small plot on the edge of Danjiangkou reservoir, was forced to move twice by dam projects during her youth. Now her son has been told he must leave his nearby apartment which will be flooded when water levels are raised for the diversion. She says the compensation – 40,000 yuan – is not enough to buy a new home, but they have no choice. “You can’t go against the government. If you do, they’ll force you to move.” The government is building 85 schools, 71 clinics and 3.2m square metres of new housing. Compensation is higher than before. There is a little more consultation. But it is also being pushed through more quickly. It has taken 18 years to move everyone from the Three Gorges area. The diversion resettlement is taking place over just two years. Compared to past relocations, the state media insists the relocation is moving smoothly. But when the Guardian talked to 30 relocated people in three villages in Nanyang, Henan province, only one was glad to have moved. Eight reluctantly accepted the patriotic sacrifice they had to make for the “national project.” The remaining 21 were furious. Without exception, the longer they has been at their new homes the less they liked them. The adjustment is already proving difficult for some. Zhang Jianchao was furious that local hospitals would not deliver the baby of his daughter-in-law. In a panic at her labour pains, he hired a car and drove his son and wife 160km back to their old town for the birth. “I’m angry. It was very worrying and expensive,” said the former silkworm farmer, who is now without land or work and living with his large family on a government allowance of 100 yuan (£100) per person per month. He says their new home is half the size of his old place because local officials cheated him of fair compensation. The most commonly heard complaint is of official corruption. Villager after villager said their compensation was skimmed by cadres, usually by undervaluing the farmers’ plots of land and over-estimating their own holdings. “I can accept that it will take time for us to make a living in our new homes but it is not fair that the officials have profited from this move. We were told that the sacrifice for this project would be shared,” said Chen Xinfeng [name changed], who runs a small restaurant. “President Hu Jintao said honest folk shouldn’t lose out, but that is what has happened.” Propaganda slogans on walls and banners strung across the road urge residents to play a patriotic role to the “key state-level project”. Many urge existing communities in the area to welcome the newcomers. “The waters of Danjiangkou are fresh and sweet. My heart is linked to the new migrant’s heart,” proclaims one of the most poetic exhortations. But friction between the old and new communities seems to be getting worse. At Liangzhuandong new village – which migrants moved into a year ago – a crowd of residents gathered to expressed a long list of grievances, including inadequate compensation, unfulfilled promises of new land, poor water quality and fights with locals. The migrants are unhappy they have not been given a share of the local farmland as they were promised. The old residents complain their new neighbours are “uneducated people from the mountains.” Both accuse the other of theft. This summer, the tension erupted into violence. According to several accounts, a fight between two individuals escalated rapidly into a melee involving several hundred people. Elsewhere, there have been reports of demonstrations. Last November, police clashed with thousands of migrants in Qianjiang city to protest shoddy housing and inadequate compensation, according to Radio Free Asia. Liu Guixian, director of Nanyang Relocation Office, said these cases were exceptions. “Some new migrants get along with locals well. Some don’t. It will take time to mix cultures and habits.” He insisted the damaged homes would be repaired and the villagers would receive land and compensation by November. Adjustments, he said, take time. Whether all these teething pains are even worthwhile remains to be seen, according to the US government analysis released by WikiLeaks. In a cable dated 8 August 2008, the US embassy said the diversion is poorly conceived and unlikely to be completed. The eastern and central routes might ultimately serve their intended purpose, it says, but the western route could lead to “an irreversible drain on government funds.” The US diplomats said the money would be much better spent on water conservation and improved irrigation. Ultimately, they predicted, the supply-side engineered solution would fail. “In the unlikely event that the project is completed in its entirety by its original deadline of 2050, the water crisis may have intensified to such a point that the amount of water the project is able to supply will have already become insufficient, making it necessary to find an entirely new solution,” they noted. Other doubts remain. Du Yun, a geographer at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan, has questioned whether the Han River can spare water. Ultimately, he said, the project’s viability could be undermined by changing weather patterns and improved technology. “The trend recently is for more rain in the north and less in the south. Water diversion is not cheap, but the price of desalination is falling. Right now, it is unclear whether water diversion is economical”. A final judgment on the cost and consequences of the project will not be clear for many years for both the nation and the individuals whose lives have changed. Jia Zhaixu was one of the newest, happiest arrivals, having moved three days earlier and was settling in to a neat whitewashed, two-storey buildings in Dashiqiao. But the former farmer was clear-eyed about the future. “A new home is like a new wife. For the first three days, it’s very exciting, but after that who knows how you will feel,” he said. • Additional reporting by Cecily Huang Major Chinese hydroprojects and resettled population Three Gorges dam – 1.5m people Sanmenxia dam – 410,000 people Danjiangkou dam – 380,000 South-North water diversion – 345,000 Xiaolangdi dam – 200,000 people Pubugou dam – 120,000 Zipingpu dam – 33,000 people Water China Drought Jonathan Watts guardian.co.uk
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