Repairs will begin next week on the city's long neglected World War II-era concentration camp for allied prisoners of war, sources from the local cultural department said.

The camp, built by Japanese troops, housed about 1,500 allied prisoners, most of them Americans, from November 1942 to August 1945, according to historical records.

Officials from the Shenyang Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau told China Daily the project would have three parts residents' relocation, repairs and improving the nearby environment.

The remains of the camp are in a residential compound, with one of the old camp buildings acting as a dormitory for workers from the China-Czechoslovakia Machine Tool Co Ltd.

The local government has paid increasing attention to the camp since the destruction of parts of its wall led to an outcry from locals and historians. Afterwards, the camp was listed as a cultural relic.

Plans are being drafted for the preservation of the camp with work expected to start on July 10.

Wang Suying, a retired worker from China-Czechoslovakia Machine Tool Co Ltd, has lived in the compound for more than 40 years.

"I am very glad to have the chance to change house, but the current compensation fee is only 1,000 yuan per square metre (US$120), lower than the average cost of a house in Shenyang," she told China Daily.

"We can hardly buy a new house with that money."

Other problems facing the project include the severity of its disrepair, according to a member of staff from the local cultural department.

Sources close to the Shenyang municipal government said the site might be included on the tourism route and developed into a museum.

"We should set up a museum on the site and apply for a position on the world heritage list," said historian Wang Jianxue.

(China Daily June 15, 2005)