<strong>China: City Tobacco Company Delegation Guides Earthquake Disaster Relief</strong>

Source from:  Qujing Tobacco Monopoly Administration 08/15/2014

A delegation from Qujing City Tobacco Company in Qujing City of southwest China's tobacco-producing Yunnan Province, which doubles as Qujing City Tobacco Monopoly Administration, was in areas hit hard by a recent powerful earthquake taking place in a neighboring region to guide the work of diaster relief there.

At 16:30 local time on August 3, Ludian County in Zhaotong City neighboring Qujing City was stricken by a powerful earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale. The earthquake killed at least 617 people and injured more than 3,000 others. Over 12,000 houses collapsed and 30,000 were damaged, with the total economic losses estimated at 460.26 million yuan (75 million U.S. Dollars).

In Huize County, Yiche Township immediately neighboring Ludian County and a number of other areas in the vicinity including Leye Township, Malu Township, Huohong Township, Zhehai Township and Jinzhong Subdistrict also suffered damages from the earthquake to different extents. In particular, buildings, curing barns, cisterns and other facilities as well as leaf tobacco supplies of leaf tobacco stations and points there suffered serious damages in the earthquake.

On August 5, the seven-member delegation from Qujing City Tobacco Company in Qujing City, led by the company's Communist Party Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Xie Yingguai, arrived in the disaster areas in Huize County to check the situation of damages. The delegation also included leaders of the security protection department and the department in charge of the Communist Party's mass work of the company.

In the evening of August 5, the delegation called an exclusive meeting to discuss topics of diaster relief in the wake of the earthquake.

At the meeting, Huize County Tobacco Subcompany reported the situation of damages suffered in the earthquake, analyzed existing problems and objective factors in the current disaster relief efforts, and studied and assigned priority tasks in the work of disaster relief.

Speaking at the meeting, Xie Yingguai pointed out that after the earthquake took place, the Communist Party Committee at Huize County Tobacco Subcompany (which doubles as Huize County Tobacco Monopoly Administration) reacted swiftly and made appropriate response in preventing secondary disasters.

Xie Yingguai raised a four-point requirement for the work of disaster relief for the time being:

Firstly, the idea of preparedness for earthquake and disaster relief shall be firmly kept in mind. Love and care shall be shown for staff members and workers. Publicity of knowledge on and skills of earthquake preparedness and disaster relief shall be practically strengthened, to enhance the emergency response capacity of the entire workforce. Appropriate arrangements shall be made for the work and life of staff members and workers. The safety of staff members and workers shall be ensured. Efforts shall be strengthened for scrutiny against hidden dangers in office areas, warehouses, housing for staff members and workers and curing barns, to prevent staff members and workers from sustaining injury in the process of disaster relief or aftershocks.

Secondly, maximum efforts shall be made for ensuring the interests of both tobacco growers and retailers, well organizing self-help in production restoration, collecting mature leaf tobacco from tobacco growers as much as possible, and providing curing service as much as possible for tobacco growers whose curing barns have been damaged in the earthquake, to minimize the losses suffered by tobacco growers. Full-scale service shall be provided for retailers, and the service of order placement and delivery of goods shall be further strengthened, to guarantee normal operation by retailers. Meanwhile, the severity of damages suffered by tobacco growers and retailers shall be further checked. Trade Unions shall fully exert their roles herein, and shall organize activities of showing sympathies as quickly as possible.

Thirdly, priority work shall be further strengthened. The work of optimizing the structure of leaf tobacco shall be well managed unswervingly. The destruction and non-curing of unusable leaf tobacco shall be strengthened. Leaf tobacco curing in the middle and late periods shall be strengthened. Highly qualified human resources shall be organized and responsibility shall be assigned to all the human resources concerned in extending assistance in doing a good job of opening ditches for drainage of flood water, etc. Guidance over the work of leaf tobacco curing shall be strengthened. Presently, there is relatively more precipitation, which leads to relatively thinness of leaf. Therefore, it is essential to strengthen management over leaf tobacco curing, in order that all barns of leaf tobacco will be well cured, and that losses from leaf tobacco curing in the wake of the earthquake will be reduced.

And fourthly, there shall be meticulous organization and careful arrangement to ensure start of the process of State leaf tobacco purchase as scheduled. Enditem