Railway construction halts in S. China after villagers protest

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-08 23:21

GUANGZHOU - A railway construction site in south China's Guangdong Province has halted work for five days as of Thursday as a result of protests by villagers who were worried about their resettlement.

Zhang Hong, an official with the China Railway No. 4 Engineering Group in charge of the construction site of the Wuhan-Guangzhou Railway, said the company had planned to resume work Thursday, the fifth day since the halt began Sunday.

However, about 100 residents of Nangang Village in the suburbs of Guangzhou protested at the site, foiling attempts to resume construction.

Workers at the site had been forced to stop work for a week last month for the same reason, said Zhang.

"Villagers would throw bricks at our workers if they did not agree to stop work," he added.

A villager surnamed Ou said the villagers protested because more than 100 families, who would have to move away and make room for the railway, were worried about their resettlement.

The families had not received any information about where and how they would be resettled, Ou told Xinhua.

China started building the 995-km railway between Wuhan, capital of the central Hubei province, and the southern Guangdong Province's capital Guangzhou in June 2005 and planned to finish it this year.