Chinese Parents Want "Jello Buildings" Investigation

ANCHOR:
Over in China, the media and much of the world have moved on from the May earthquake. But millions of people affected by the quake are still seeking shelter and food. Meanwhile, parents of some of the victims are seeking answers. That's because many of the schools that collapsed during the earthquake were next to other buildings that remained standing. And these parents want a formal investigation to see if the school buildings were up to code.

Many have already concluded that the buildings were unsafe, however, based on their previous experience with profit-minded developers and corrupt party officals. They also have a term for the poorly constructed buildings, they call them: "jello buildings," or the "Tofu Waste Project." NTD's China News Team has more:

STORY:
Parents of the earthquake victims have asked local authorities many times to investigate their schools' construction. But they say the officials have not done anything. Over the weekend more than 200 parents got together again to petition in Sichuan, but the police forced them to disperse.

[Unnamed Parent, Sichuan Province]: Quote 1
"Classrooms have collapsed and it's because of the 'Tofu Waste Project'. They died miserably. Today we parents sought justice, but the police just detained us. It has caused conflicts between us and the police. We do not dare to resist the Chinese communist party, today I saw them arrest several overseas' journalists."

After the earthquake, the Chinese communist party compensated families 5000 Yuan for each child killed in the earthquake. And Chengdu and Dujiangyan city authorities also compensated victims' families 32,000 Yuan.

But some parents are refusing to take the money. They say they would rather have an investigation, and an answer to the question of whether their children could have survived.

[Unnamed Parent, Sichuan Province]:Quote 2
"Now, that is to say, it is no use if you give me lots of money, because money cannot heal our grieving hearts, and now we just want to say, bring those who constructed and inspected the Jello buildings to justice. They took dirty money and killed so many children."

[Unnamed Parent, Sichuan Province]:
"...No one wants to take the money, the parents think the investigation of the building construction hasn't been done. It is not a simple issue that the party just gives us money, I have the feeling they don't want us to publicize the information, and try to conceal it as much as possible. It is not easy for me to answer phone calls from outside, as our phones may be tapped."

After the earthquake, CCP leaders had promised to investigate the faulty construction. But there has been no update since then on the status of the investigation, or whether the investigation is taking place. China is now also dealing with severe flooding in the southeast and the upcoming Olympics in August, and the attention has shifted away from the earthquake victims.

But some of the parents we spoke to said they feel like they are being paid off by the party, but that the only thing they want is the truth.

NTD China News Team

Category:

News & Politics

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• jello
• building
• investigation
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• grieve