People queue to buy new houses at the Tongzhou new town. [Wang Jing / China Daily]

People bring stools so they can rest during the long wait. [Wang Jing / China Daily]

Fewer than one third of families sign agreements

The fate of thousands of families in east Beijing's Tongzhou district was up in the air yesterday as the local government kicked off a 20-day countdown to snap up demolition deals for the district's biggest urban revamp in history.

Carrying quilts, chairs and calculators, anxious residents from nearly 15,000 households filled every inch of the demolishing zone headquarters on the first day of the signing period Thursday morning. Some had queued for six days and nights.

Through local media, the district government has urged local residents to agree with relocation terms "as soon as possible".

They said that residents who sign soonest can expect the best locations for their new apartment.

But residents are refusing to hastily agree with the current terms and believe the government is trying to "get rid of them quickly".

"The authorities are trying to lure us with an extra 100,000 yuan if we agree on relocation terms before April 27. The compensation is too little, but if we don't sign, we will get nothing," said Liu Guiying.

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The 57-year-old woman, whose family has agreed on the relocation terms, was speaking from her five-decade-old alleyway house at Jinjia Hutong, which will be pulled down in the following months to make way for the district's "historic development".

Tongzhou government launched the 50-billion yuan renovation project last year, with plans for adding new commercial complexes, government buildings and transportation facilities for the district, with population 1.35 million, by 2015.

The demolition of more than 15,000 households will start in several populated locations near the district government headquarters over the next few months.

Local authorities prepared a 9.4-billion yuan budget for relocation compensation, which equates to roughly 1 million yuan for each relocated family. However, the reality is not so positive.

Most families that showed up on Thursday told METRO they will have to find at least another 200,000 yuan to buy the apartments on offer.

However, altogether 4,498 families agreed to sign agreements with the government as of Thursday afternoon.

"We may receive just over 420,000 yuan for our 20 sq m house according to the government terms, so we are running short of 300,000 yuan. I just can't afford it," Li Shui, a 41-year-old Tongzhou resident, told METRO.

With less than 50,000 yuan in the bank, Li said he would not sign the government terms without extra funding.

Tongzhou officials told METRO Thursday they are confident the relocation process will be successful.

"For the nail house owners, they will not get extra benefits, but they will agree to move at last," he told METRO as more residents handed over their house certificates to the authorities.