The Financial Times reports from Mianzhu, Sichuan on the pressures being exerted on families of children killed in shoddy schools in the Wenchuan earthquake:
In tent cities that have sprung up throughout the region, soldiers carrying batons patrol the streets and security agents and police have stepped up efforts to muzzle any sign of “social instability”.
An atmosphere of anxiety reigns among the parents of children killed in school collapses in the towns of Mianzhu and Dujiangyan as government and security officials apply increasing pressure on them to drop demands for a full investigation.
A parent in Dujiangyan said that officials had said “not to make trouble” and to quietly accept cash compensation of Rmb12,000 ($1,750) per child with the promise of a further Rmb20,000 ($2,917) to come later.
Read also a previous CDT post: “Parents Wait for Answers on Quake School.”
