|
2006-10-25
|
|
BEIJING - Seven days and 7,000 men is all it took for Beijing to build a brand new hospital for Sars patients.What had seemed like an impossible task is now a project getting its finishing touches from 7,000 workers deployed from six of Beijing's largest construction firms and working round the clock. AdvertisementThe 1,000-bed isolation ward, located in the town of Xiaotangshan in the northern outskirts of Beijing, is a prime example of what the Chinese Communist Party, criticised for its initial lack oftransparency in handling the Sars outbreak, can accomplish when it is committed.Since last Wednesday, the army of workers had been split into more than 20 'youth shock brigades' - reminiscent of the massive construction campaigns launched by Chairman Mao Zedong in the mid-1950s to build Beijing's modern landmarks such as the Great Hall of thePeople.At any one time, 2,000 men worked two or three shifts without a break on the site of the 5.33-ha facility in the secluded northern Changping district, about 28 km from downtown Beijing.Within three days, they managed to complete what would normally have taken 15 to 20 days to build. About 60 per cent of the basic structure was completed and 30 per cent of it was fitted by the weekend.Inspecting the grounds of Xiaotangshan Hospital last Friday, newly-installed Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan, known for his trouble-shooting skills, called on the 'troops' to work doubly hard.Beijing's anti-Sars campaign must turn its passive state around. We must restore confidence in the people,' he was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.We must build Xiaotangshan Hospital into a first-class infectious diseases hospital in the shortest possible time. We must guarantee quality while quickening the pace,' he stressed.For the workers, the achievement came at a price.I haven't slept for three nights. They said it had to get done, so what can you do?' a haggard-looking foreman told Reuters before gathering his 'troops' for one of their two daily temperature checks to make sure they did not have a fever, the tell-tale Sars symptom.Apart from long hours, the workers also had to work under harsh conditions.Initially, they had no water, electricity or roads. Without roadaccess, the workers carried materials to the site on their backs. To provide electricity needed for working through the night, they had to lug along small diesel generators.Without clean water supply, they brought in water trucks and used the most primitive method - carrying it bucket by bucket - over 200 m of rough terrain to the construction site.Meals for the workers often consisted of bread, low-grade sausages and bottled water. At best, they were treated to boxed meals.At night, they slept in the open without tents. Shacks, vans and buses became makeshift command posts.Dr Chong Lianjin, president of the Beijing Anyuan Hospital, described the construction of the Xiaotangshan hospital as a key step towards containing Sars in Beijing.The new hospital is located far away from densely-populated areas and will serve as a much-needed third infectious diseases hospital after Ditan and Youan hospitals, he said.Under current circumstances with the rapid spread of Sars, it is a decisive measure. You cannot seal off the entire city but you can seal off an area like Xiaotangshan,' he said.Nearby residents seemed to be taking it in stride.The most dangerous place is also the safest place,' Ms Ou Liping, who operates a tiny wholesale food shop not far from the new facility, told Reuters.I'm sure the construction is good. And anyway, you have to trust your own government, right?' she said. |
|
最近更新 ( 2007-02-28 )
|
媒体报道 
