The local Chinese community has donated over $6 million to the Chinese Embassy here to assist with rescue and relief efforts in China where an earthquake has killed over 51,000 persons and injured close to 300,000 while over 30,000 remain missing.
And even though the earthquake has destroyed 90% of the buildings in Wenchuan County in the south-west of the country’s Sichuan province, costing the Chinese government over 190 billion yuan, Chinese Ambassador to Guyana Zhang Jungao told reporters yesterday that this will not in any way hamper its hosting of the Olympics.
The three official days of mourning announced by the country’s political administrator only interfered with the timetable of the torch relay. The Olympics will be hosted in the capital city, Beijing, which was not affected by the quake, which occurred after 2.30 pm on May 12.
Bringing the media up to date on the developments, Zhang said that the province, which also happens to be his hometown, has since suffered more than 160 aftershocks. The quake has also triggered landslides in the mountainous province and damaged over 30,000 hectares of farmland, including 10,000 hectares of wheat and rice and more than 20,000 hectares of vegetables he said the Ministry of Agriculture has since reported.
Additionally, he said, the disaster has also destroyed irrigation systems in some areas.
Zhang said local governments at all levels and relevant central government departments have taken quake relief to the millions who have been left homeless, while rescue workers were engaged in unrelenting efforts to find persons who might still be alive in the rubble.
He said that Saudi Arabia, Japan and the United States have all made substantial donations, bringing the total donation to over US$3 billion. He noted too that many governments, including the Government of Guyana, have extended condolences to the Chinese people.
“Wenchuan earthquake has been a terrible catastrophe for China and it is indeed the worst geological catastrophe since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The quake took away lives, but it will not frighten the Chinese people,” the Chinese ambassador told reporters yesterday.
