¡¡¡¡BEIJING, June 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan has
underlined the need to improve the management of the Three Gorges dam project,
and strive for a better future for the Three Gorges reservoir area.
¡¡¡¡Zeng made the remarks during his Jun. 13 to 15 inspection of central
China's Hubei province and southwestern Chongqing municipality where the Three
Gorges Reservoir is located.
¡¡¡¡During his three-day visit to the newly-built residential areas for people
resettled from the reservoir area, Zeng called for efforts to prepare for the
relocation of the last group of residents from areas to be submerged by the
reservoir.
¡¡¡¡Zeng stressed the need to promote economic growth and create jobs for the
residents from areas involved in relocation programs in Hubei and Chongqing,
where about one million residents will have been displaced when the project is
completed in the year 2009.
¡¡¡¡The central government departments involved should step up efforts to
formulate regulations on management of the reservoir areas in a bid to
facilitate environmental protection and pollution control, he said.
¡¡¡¡He also called for substantial efforts to quicken the pace of constructing
the waste water treatment plants and ensure existing trash and waste water
disposal facilities were operating in line with market mechanisms.
¡¡¡¡Meanwhile, the vice-premier called on construction workers at the worksite
of the mammoth Three Gorges dam, the biggest of its kind in the world. Enditem
Three Gorges ready for trial navigation
¡¡¡¡YICHANG,
June 15 (Xinhuanet) -- The Three Gorges Project is ready for trial navigation
scheduled on Monday morning.
¡¡¡¡Two preliminary tests have been done as the water storage in the reservoir
completed on June 10, five days ahead of the schedule. A single ship succeeded
in passing through the reservoir on June 13. On June 14, another test navigation
of a shipping team was also crowned with a success.
¡¡¡¡The two pretests were both satisfying, especially in the interaction
between the ship, the water and the lock, said Zhang Qingsong, director of the
Yangtze River Three Gorges Navigational Bureau.
¡¡¡¡The inspection on the ship lock would continue even after the trial
navigation, added Zhang. The second phase of trial navigation will be done when
the water flow of the Yangtze River reached 40,000 cubic meters per second this
July.
¡¡¡¡The ship lock is decorated with colored flags and banners. The main venue
for the opening ceremony is set in the third lock operation room and venues for
tourists to watch the ceremony haveall been settled.
¡¡¡¡Three major media in China, Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television
and China National Radio are all ready for the live broadcast of the trial
navigation.
¡¡¡¡The ship lock is expected to open to all ships on June 20, earlier than
scheduled, as many ships are stuck near the Three Gorges Dam due to the water
storage.
¡¡¡¡The ban on night navigation in the reservoir from the Three Gorges Dam to
Wanzhou in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River was lifted at 8:00 am on June
13 after a lapse of 30 days. However,night navigation is still forbidden to
those ships that pass the lock for the first time. Enditem
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