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Quality reconstruction

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-24 14:17

With schools in the quake-hit areas holding classes in tents, and government offices in the most severely devastated Beichuan county operating from a new site in a neighboring county, rebuilding stands out as a pressing imperative on the drawing board.

As medical workers, epidemic control professionals, as well as those producing, transporting, and assembling tents and temporary houses are racing against time to treat and accommodate victims, such haste must give way to cool-headed considerations about quality in reconstruction work.

With the outcomes of promised investigations pending, it is difficult to know to what extent quality problems, if they did exist, were responsible for the collapse of school buildings in which thousands of children and teachers were killed or still missing.

Such official investigations have to be thorough and complete. They are essential not only to answer a number of questions, but may also offer an invaluable reference for rebuilding efforts.

Whatever the causes may be, the inescapable truth is that many school buildings were reduced to rubble at great cost to life and limb. We cannot afford to see a repeat of such a tragedy.

It is reassuring to hear from the Sichuan education authorities that the new school buildings on the drawing board will be strong enough to withstand tremors of 8.0 or above on the Richter scale, and that they will have seismologists work with engineers in the rebuilding process.

Building such "quake-proof" school buildings, however, calls for serious commitment throughout the process. It takes more than the resolve of decision-makers and goodwill to ensure that classrooms we finally see are up to the desired standards.

Besides sensible building locations, which in most cases may allow little room for maneuver, any defects in design, materials, and construction will only sow the seeds for future risks. The particular geological and seismological conditions of the disaster areas justify that safety concerns must override all else.

The authorities must honor their financial commitment. They must see to it that costs do not become an excuse for lowering standards.

At the same time, efforts must be made to make sure all links in the reconstruction process are under effective supervision. This is important not only for maintaining standards and guaranteeing building quality, but also for stemming unnecessary suspicions.

Three years from now, when the schools are expected to have moved into new buildings, we hope to see ones the local authorities are talking about now.