Olympics-Beijing residents support relocation - official

By Nick Mulvenney

BEIJING, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The relocation of hundreds of thousands of Beijing residents, as part of a massive city redevelopment programme, is a "good thing" which enjoys their support, a top city construction official said on Wednesday.

The Chinese capital has embarked on the redevelopment programme over the last few years -- partly to get ready for next year's Olympic Games -- with thousands of old houses knocked down and residents moved to new accommodation.

Rights groups have accused the city authorities of evicting many of the residents against their will and moving them far away from their old homes.

"The ultimate goal of Beijing's construction development is to benefit the people," Sui Zhenjiang, director of Beijing's construction committee, told a news conference.

"The reason we have been able to move so quickly is because of the understanding of the people whose houses have been relocated. With their support, our work has been progressing smoothly."

Sui said some 40,000 to 50,000 households a year had been relocated, not the 1.5 million people alleged in a June report from the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions.

Less than two percent of those displacements were directly related to the building of the Olympic venues, Sui added.

He did, however, concede that moving home did cause problems. "It is a challenge as well as an opportunity," he said. "Most relocated citizens will have to change their living habits ... resulting in inconvenience in terms of employment, schooling and access to medical services and transport."

The main cause of complaint among those Beijing residents unhappy at being evicted is a lack of adequate compensation.

Sui said "market evaluation" was being used to fix levels of compensation and the money paid out would increase in line with the cost of accommodation in the city.

RIOT POLICE

Sui said all relocations were being conducted "in a legal way" including in the cases of those who had refused to move.

"The residents who refuse to relocate by sticking to illegal demand of compensation for relocation shall be treated in a civilised and considerate manner," Sui said.

"The matter will be solved through negotiation, arbitration and relocation hearings..."

With property prices rocketing in Beijing, Sui said the city would be financing 30 million square metres of affordable and price restricted housing.

The redevelopment of the historical area of Qianmen, just south of Tiananmen Square, was a good example of how the project was benefiting people, he said.

With 55,000 people per square kilometre crammed into a warren of dilapidated old houses, residents enjoyed less than four square metres of living space each.

The average amount of living space for Beijingers has now risen to more than 20 square metres.

"Some of them might have complaints but overall they are happy with their new accommodation," he said. (Additional reporting by Liu Zhen and Ben Blanchard)