Society

Lessons in relocation confrontation

By Yan Jie in Beijing and Wang Huazhong in Chongqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-22 08:14

A construction team in Chongqing has roared into confrontation with new rivals - 11 schoolteachers from a locally loved high school.

The teachers from Fengjie Senior High School in this southwestern metropolis on Monday morning defended the land owned by the school outside its front gate against intrusion by a construction team whose earthmovers were flattening an area to build a road and apartment buildings.

The standoff escalated into verbal clashes between teachers and workers at the site. Meanwhile, the construction team continued digging, causing the teachers to lose their footing and slide down the slope. Six teachers suffered minor injuries, according to Fengjie's publicity department.

"The school and the construction company have agreed to settle the case," an unnamed official with the department told China News Service yesterday. "The construction team has also continued with its work."

The injured teachers will soon be released from hospital, added the official. The construction workers involved in the incident have been sacked.

"We are building a road and apartment buildings about 30 m from the school's front gate," Shao Guangping, a project manager with the Chongqing Hong'an Investment Co, said in an interview with China Daily yesterday.

The company had reached an agreement with the school to acquire a 197-sq m area east of the school's front gate, Shao said.

But some teachers argued that the construction team had crossed the boundary defined in the agreement.

"It is inevitable during construction," said Shao. "After completing our work, we will return the occupied land beyond the line to the school."

Fengjie Senior High School is a key school in the country, covering an area of 261,000 sq m, and having more than 7,000 students, according to the school's website.