BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- A State Council work team on Saturday arrived in the earthquake-hit area of Liuzhou City in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to guide relief and reconstruction work after two 5.2-magnitude earthquakes caused casualties and property losses in the region.
The work team, led by Chen Min, deputy director of the office of the national commission for disaster prevention, reduction and relief and vice minister of emergency management, visited affected residents and helped guide local authorities in further carrying out earthquake relief, transitional resettlement and post-disaster recovery and reconstruction.
The team went to one of the hardest-hit areas in Liunan District, and inspected temporary resettlement sites, hospitals, damaged homes and infrastructure facilities, as well as locations identified as having potential geological hazards.
They reviewed the disaster situation and learned in detail about the resettlement of affected people, medical treatment, supplies provision and repair of damaged facilities.
A field meeting was later held to convey instructions from central authorities and make arrangements for the next stage of work.
Authorities were urged to coordinate earthquake relief with flood prevention and disaster response, strengthen inspections of hidden risks and key hazard sites, and guard against secondary disasters.
The meeting also called for accelerating emergency recovery efforts, speeding up the repair of infrastructure, carrying out timely safety assessments of damaged houses, and ensuring the safe and orderly return of residents.
It also emphasized the need to properly assist and resettle affected people, strengthen management and services at temporary resettlement sites, ensure basic living needs, carry out disaster assessment as soon as possible, and plan post-disaster reconstruction in a scientific manner.
Efforts should also be made to address weaknesses in infrastructure and grassroots emergency response capacity, and comprehensively improve disaster prevention, reduction and relief capabilities, according to the meeting. ■
