By Geng Xiaoyan
At 20:30 of January 3, goods news was announced through the speaker at the office for the overhaul of No.158 and No.161 old neighborhoods: after only 8 days of jointly efforts of land-acquisition officials and the residents, 85% of the people have signed the compensation agreement, giving the pacts full effect.
When the word came, folks and the officials gave applauds to show their joy. Some of the residents gathered under the banner announcing the effective agreement to take photos to mark this moment of happiness.
“We used to live in the old house of only several square meters,” said Zeng Yaohua, one of the residents living in the neighborhoods, “It was very inconvenient since we are a very large family, so we’re really grateful to the CPC and the government for offering us so much care.”
It is learned the No. 158 and No. 161 neighborhoods cover 1,691 households and 1,329 house registrations. Most of the houses are simple shelters and have poor facilities. People there have grown tired of living a life packed like sardines and crave for overhaul.
On March 2014, the first round of consultation gathered over 98% of consent for renovation. The official signing process started on December 27 of 2014 and thanks to the thoughtful planning and organization of the facelift authority, the authorities have managed to keep the land-acquisition policy known to the public and win their support. By working closely with the residents and navigate through disputes, it took only 8 days to reach a signing rate of 85.03%, meaning the task has been completed 87 days ahead of time.