(www.chinadaily.com.cn) Fengdu, Chongqing-"To build the Three Gorges Project, the largest hydroelectric project in the world, we certainly encountered many technical problems. However, the most challenging one is to relocate over one million people, who are attached to their land and regional culture, " explains Wang Yang, secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), during an interview with the media recently.

World-class difficulty

Government officials say moving such a large population is "a world class difficulty". Zhou Shanhe, director of communications in Fengdu County, Chongqing recalled: "I was invited to attend a party at a village for migrants affected by the Three Gorges Project. But it turned out to be a trap. When I arrived there, about two thousand angry people suddenly appeared from nowhere. They got close and circled me to voice their complaints. One young man holding his baby threatened to kill me."

"At that moment, I thought it was a wave of hatred, but I wasn't afraid of them. I am familiar with the character of those migrants. The great Yangzte River and the Three Gorges have shaped them to be industrious and reasonable," Zhou said in an exclusive interview with China Daily website.

The residents organized the protest because they suspected some local officials embezzled their life resettlement fund, and also because they felt the quality of new houses was not good enough, saying the windows were too small and the structures were built with low-quality cement.

To appease the residents, Zhou immediately organized a meeting with the local deputy director and over two thousand people. After a thorough meeting assuring them there was enough money, and promising to find responsible builders to repair or rebuild all houses, the migrants were satisfied.

Five years ago, Zhou was given a bigger challenge of looking after 8,000 migrants. He had to choose the best places for them to move to, and then look after the logistics of resettlement. "It took me two months to visit many places and compare their advantages and disadvantages in terms of location, transportation, social and economic developments," he recalls. He finally decided on two cities, Wuhu and Maashan, in Anhui Province. Then he went back to Wushan County and invited the migrants to visit their new homes and negotiate with them, one by one. However, Zhou was later moved to a new position before the whole work was completed.

He paid a visit to the migrants after they were relocated to Wuhu and Maanshan. Zhou said one migrant joked "We were cheated into being here. This place has nothing, but winds all year. " But Zhou claims those migrants live a comfortable life and are gradually integrating into the local life because it's much better developed than their original home in Three Gorges

Focus on employment

Another official talks about the difficulty of persuading thousands of farmers to leave their land and move to a faraway place. Zhang Xuejun, an official from the Chongqing Migrants Bureau said, "I know some officials cried together with the farmers when the deadline for migration came. They love so much their land." He also remembered seeing an old man who refused to leave the abandoned village, and he held on tightly to the door. "Finally we invited some photojournalists, took pictures for the old man with his old house, and gave pictures to him. Then he left at last."

The challenges of relocating so many people have made the Chinese realize this exercise has put state interests in front of regional ones. But some corrupt officials have created many management scandals. Around 289 million yuan (US$36.13 million) set aside for the Three Gorges Dam relocation subsidies were misused or misappropriated, Xinhua reported late January this year, citing the National Audit Office. The report also says Hubei provincial and Chongqing municipal governments have started working on recouping the missing funds under the guidance of the State Council Three Gorges Project Construction Committee.

Wang also said that over one million people have been relocated, and with 100,000 waiting to be relocated, either inside Chongqing or to other provinces. The unemployment rate in Three Gorges Reservoir Area remains as high as 10.4 percent, and the Chongqing Municipality will take measures to solve the problem in five years, said Wang.

In the meanwhile, the Chongqing Municipality has announced an investment of one billion yuan to boost tourism at the Three Gorges, Xinhua reported early April. Many regional officials in Chongqing also hope the tourism resources will enhance local residents' income.