Ethnic Uygur farmer Mehesumu Abduleyimu had no plan to build a new house.

Although he has lived in a shabby mud house for decades, building a new one was so far out of his financial reach that he didn't give building a new one a second thought.

The 40-year-old farmer, who lives in Kadimujaryi Village in the suburbs of Kashgar city, in southern Xinjiang, has three children, the oldest aged 15.

The annual income of the five-member family is less than 3,500 yuan (US$425), most of which comes from growing cotton and maize.

The minimum cost of building a brick house in his village is estimated at 8,000 yuan (US$960).

But Abduleyimu started building his brick house a month ago. He is a beneficiary of a project launched by the autonomous regional government to help all residents, mainly farmers, live in safer dwellings.

As Xinjiang is in an earthquake-prone zone, many places in the region bear the scars of earth tremors. Kashgar is one of them.

A devastating earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale shook the Jiashi and Bachu counties in the region in February 2003, killing 268 people and seriously injuring 2,000.

"The tragedy has prodded the region's government to help all farmers make their houses safe," said Ismail Tiliwaldi, chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

He said the local government will spend 1 billion yuan (US$120 million) over five years to strengthen all residential homes in rural areas.

Families now living in mud houses can expect subsidies to help them build new brick houses, Ismail said.

Destitute families who earn less than 670 yuan (US$80) a year per head will get 4,300 yuan (US$520) towards their new house, according to Wei Zhangyu, an official in Kashgar in charge of the project.

All subsidies will be given to them in the form of building materials, Wei said.

Mehesumu was given 13,000 bricks, four tons of cement and 300 kilograms of reinforced steel bars.

"I am quite satisfied with the materials, and in fact they were a great surprise for me," said Mehesumu.

He expects the three-room house will take four months to complete. As well as safety improvements in the home, farmers will also improve sanitation conditions.

Separate toilets must be built in all new houses and tap water will also be available, according to Wei.

In Kashgar's five-year plan, which started last year, more than 40,000 families will be given subsidies in the project, Wei said.

As well as subsidies from the autonomous region, the local government will spend 5 million yuan (US$600,000) a year to help local farmers finish their homes, said Wei.

(China Daily July 21, 2005)