[Epoch Times September 02, 2021](Interviews and reports by Epoch Times reporters Hong Ning and Zhao Fenghua) More than a month after the Henan floods, the people in Weihui City, Henan Province, who were severely affected by the disaster, have still not received assistance. On September 1, the disaster-stricken merchants in Weihui, Henan, were interviewed by The Epoch Times. They described the causes of the flood and the government’s refusal to help severely damaged merchants, and called on the authorities to compensate the victims.
The government of the victims must say that the mayor refuses strongly
On August 25th, thousands of people affected by the disaster in Weihui City, Henan Province went to the local government to pull up banners to ask for compensation for their losses.
In July of this year, heavy rains continued to fall in Henan, flooding caused by unwarned flood release in Weihui City, causing heavy losses to the people. On September 1, Mr. Lin (pseudonym), a merchant in Weihui City, said in an interview with Epoch Times that his shop was flooded in the flood and the loss was about 100,000 yuan. He went to the government to petition on the 25th just for an explanation.
Mr. Lin said: “There were at least 1,000 people at the scene that day, and asked the mayor and the secretary of the municipal party committee to come out and give an explanation.”
Mr. Lin said that none of them came out. Later, the chief of the Bureau of Letters and Calls came out, but the victims believed that the Bureau of Letters and Calls just wanted to make major things smaller and smaller, so they refused to leave, waiting for the mayor to come out and give an explanation.
Mr. Lin said that he finally waited until the mayor came out, but the result disappointed him.
He said: “The mayor (female, Li Jin) came and said that dine-in can be opened, and that the compensation will be advanced. At that time, a few representatives were sent in to talk to her, and the representatives said their ideas. She was very strong. Saying it’s impossible, I can’t answer you, so let’s go first.”
Mr. Lin said that on the second day, the government sent the police to guard all the front of the municipal government early, and there was no large-scale petition.
People: Flood discharge without warning
Mr. Lin said that Wei Hui was flooded not because of heavy rains, but because the government released floods without warning.
According to media reports, at noon on July 23, Wei Hui’s rain finally stopped and the weather cleared. However, from 7 pm on the 25th, the flood suddenly entered Weihui City, the entire city was soaked in the water, and the water depth reached more than 2 meters.
Mr. Lin confirmed that it was not raining at that time. The Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee issued an announcement to tell everyone not to panic, saying that the water level dropped significantly in the afternoon. Unexpectedly, the water level rose sharply in the afternoon.
Mr. Lin said: “As a result, the water level rose by 50 cm in the afternoon, and it rose every day for the next few days. As a result, the deep water level, such as the community on the side of the yarn factory, reached 3 meters. High places (water level) are as high as 1.5 meters, and low places (water level) are two meters.”
Mr. Lin said that if the flood is not discharged, there will be no floods: “Because rain is a natural disaster, no one can do anything, so we can quickly pump water to drain the water. But I didn’t expect the flood to be discharged. If the flood is not discharged, Weihui City will simply It’s okay.”
Mr. Lin said that the people did not believe that the government would release the flood without warning, but it still happened.
He said: “Before the flood was discharged, there was a saying that flooded Weihui and protected Xinxiang. At that time, everyone said that it was dubious. We shouldn’t flood the urban area of Weihui. There are many shops and old houses in the urban area. Ten years have passed, and some residential balconies have fallen down. If you soak for a few more days, you can imagine how dangerous it is.”
“At that time, a mouth was opened in the Xinxiang section of Weihe River, and the water flowed into the urban area. The people wondered why it was sunny, the rain stopped, and why the water level was rising so fast, everyone did not know. But the government It must be the first time to know about this. There is no doubt that if you notify the people in advance, the loss will definitely be reduced. At least you can let the people drive out the vehicle.”
“But there was no warning. Instead, a message was given that the water level dropped significantly in the afternoon, but the water level continued to rise. This is a big misleading. It (misled) all the people and caused all property not to be transferred.”
Merchants suffered heavy losses
Mr. Lin told the Epoch Times reporter that some merchants had lost millions of dollars without compensation.
He said: “The merchants here, my (store) is fairly small, and some merchants, for example, I always go to a vegetable farm to buy groceries, and a proprietress who makes frozen products. I often deal with her. She has three warehouses. We used to go shopping for groceries and talk and laugh very cheerfully. Now when we sit there, we are in a daze, and our consciousness is a little problematic.”
“The workers in her family said that when they were asked to clean up the warehouse, all the frozen meat in the warehouse was stinking. The first day they were given 150 yuan per person, they were cleaned up, and the next day they were 300 yuan and no one could be found. They only cleaned up. The labor cost of the warehouse cost 30,000 yuan, and the total loss is roughly more than one million yuan.”
“There is also a liquor wholesaler, not far from my store. The house is full of good liquors: Wuliangye, Jiannanchun, Moutai, etc. All the things in the store were swept away by water. The loss of this store should be three or four million. , Including the things in the warehouse and the store, just like this, I also gave 1,000 yuan as a condolence money, many of which have not been received yet!”
People: The government is playing hooligans
Mr. Lin told the Epoch Times reporter that the government has set thresholds everywhere on the issue of compensation.
He said: “The number of billions allocated to Wei Hui was divided into 360 million. Later, it seemed to be changed to 670 million, which is much different from other cities. To put it bluntly, the government has no money, it just demolishes the east wall and makes up for the west wall. Now that the government has given 1,000 yuan as a condolence money, I only got the money from one store, but I haven’t got the money from the other store.”
“At that time, it was said that it was resettlement expenses. It was 150 yuan per person and 1050 yuan as a base. Now many people have not received it. Now there is a saying that these people who have received the money have to return the money. The reason is: It doesn’t work if it’s not in Weihui City. Even if you live here, you can’t. Also, if only the first floor is flooded, and the second floor is not flooded, then the merchants on the second floor and above will be ignored. Setting various thresholds is tantamount to being a hooligan.” Say.
The local government concealed the disaster
Mr. Lin said that the reason why the resettlement funds were not in place after the disaster may be concealed by the local government.
He said: “The next step is to count on the post-disaster resettlement funds, but there is no hope for the post-disaster resettlement part. When the Wei Hui government reported it, it must be concealed. If it was not concealed, why did Wei Hui suffer such a serious disaster than anywhere else? Why did Wei Hui act as if he hadn’t been affected by the disaster? He made such a small amount of money, why is that enough?”
“Later the Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee came, and the Minister of Central Flood Control came, and he pumped the water out within three days. If they hadn’t been there, I don’t know how long it would take the water to drain. The female mayor at that time (Li Jin) I couldn’t see her at all, including the supplies delivered. There were no supplies at all in the resettlement sites. A lot of steamed buns and vegetables were rotten. The government is like no work at all.”
Mr. Lin said that the victims were desperate, and some were driven to despair.
“There is a 70-year-old man in the spinning mill (an old town in Weihui). After the water receded, he went home and saw that there was nothing at home. He could not bear it mentally and committed suicide.” He said.
Legend has it that Li Keqiang is going to visit the government to lock up the victims
Mr. Lin talked about an episode to the Epoch Times reporter. The Weihui city government also deceived the victims into imprisoning the neighboring Xinxiang City.
Mr. Lin said: “I heard that Premier Li Keqiang was going to Xinxiang for inspection. The government took Wei Hui’s victims to Xinxiang. It was said that Wei Hui’s conditions were too poor and they were provided with better conditions. One person has a standard room and three meals. Yes, I gave 100 yuan on the other day. At that time, many victims were deceived.”
“After I got to the Xinxiang City Gymnasium, I directly closed the gate and pulled the barbed wire to prevent entry and exit. The inside was a Datong shop. The elderly couldn’t sleep well. Everyone was trapped there and was being looked after. Then they all came out because at that time. Just to cope with the inspection from above.”
Mr. Lin said that at that time the government also blocked the real news of the disaster area and prevented the disaster from spreading out.
He said: “At that time, both the We-Media and Douyin were restricted. The video we sent was only within a small area, that is, within a few kilometers of a radius of a few kilometers. I couldn’t receive it, and I didn’t know the real situation. At that time, many civilian rescue teams across the country rushed to Weihui, Jiangxi, Shandong, Beijing, etc. They also had videos, photos, and vibrato, but these were deleted. “
The reporter did not receive a reply when he called the relevant department
The Epoch Times reporter called the Petition Office of Weihui City Government to inquire about the situation, but no one answered the call.
When the reporter called the Weihui City Government Office to inquire about people’s livelihood after the disaster, a male staff member replied: “It’s not in our control, ask the Propaganda Department.” And provided the phone number of the Propaganda Department.
When the reporter called the propaganda department, a female employee said that she was new and didn’t know anything. When the reporter asked, another man answered the phone and said: “These things are all in the hands of the Emergency Bureau and the Civil Affairs Bureau. The merchants (losses) are calculated by the Market Supervision Bureau. These issues and information are not yet in the publicity department’s grasp. You can contact the government office.”
The reporter asked: “The local people said that the government had known about the flood before it did not notify the people in advance. This is a man-made disaster, not a natural disaster?” The man replied, “Who wants to flood the city. The propaganda department cannot answer these questions.”
Editor in charge: Fang Ming#
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