A YEAR after the massive earthquake that ravaged Sichuan province, China has announced improved measures to ensure its impoverished regions are better prepared for the next natural disaster.
But many villagers still struggling to rebuild say they have little faith in the government's ability to restore their homes and livelihoods, or to fully explain why so many of their children were crushed to death in poorly constructed schools.
"Whatever they rebuild, they cannot return my daughter," said Xiong Yonghao, whose 11-year-old died in her school one year ago today.
He spoke after another failed attempt to petition officials in Beijing for further investigation into the schools' collapse. "We have been talking about it for a year. What does it take? I just came back four days ago from Beijing. No results. It's no use," he said. "You can say that I have totally given up. There won't be a result, ever."
The 7.9 magnitude earthquake, epicentred in the Sichuan county of Wenchuan, claimed a staggering toll: 68,712 dead, 17,921 missing, 374,000 injured and 15 million displaced, according to official statistics.
Included in that number are 5,335 dead and missing students, an official tally released only last week after months of begging from parents. Shoddy construction blamed on corrupt officials and contractors meant the floors of thousands of classrooms simply collapsed on to each other, killing their students, while office buildings and homes nearby remained standing.
Yesterday, Chinese officials admitted at a press conference in Beijing there had been problems in their response to the quake. They said they had improved the country's disaster management system and ordered local governments to draw up contingency plans. All schools across the country are to be reinforced within three years.
The government has also invested billions in developing an early warning system for quake-prone regions, in the hope of giving residents a few seconds, or even minutes, to take cover. Scientists are to drill four deep observation wells on the fault line in Sichuan province to try to add to their research.
"There is still a long way to go before it can be put into practice," said Du Wei, deputy director in the country's earthquake disaster prevention department. "Though the (warning] time can be extremely limited, we believe it's vital for minimising casualties and economic losses."
Meantime, rebuilding is under way; Sichuan's provincial government says one million homes in rural areas and 33,000 city flats have been rebuilt, with hundreds of thousands more units still under construction.
But people say they are not being built fast enough.
"I have not much confidence in the government on rebuilding so far," said Liu Mengying, 35. Her second son was born 54 days ago, after her first child, a boy of 11, was crushed to death in his classroom on 12 May last year.
Ms Liu, her husband and her in-laws have rebuilt their collapsed house, but say the 16,000 yuan (£1,500) they received in government assistance was only a little more than one-tenth of the cost, forcing her family to drain their savings and borrow a further 60,000 yuan.
