The northwest Chinese city of Lanzhou will start reconstruction of the 239 primary and middle schools damaged by the May 12 earthquake with a budget of over 607 million yuan (US$89 million), the Lanzhou Morning Post reported.

An adjustment of the distribution of schools in the city will be carried out at the same time, with the plan to remove or merge 240 schools.

Among the 239 damaged schools with a total area reaching 276,666 square meters, 32 suffered slightly and their buildings will be repaired and reinforced within the year. The remaining 207 will be demolished completely and rebuilt by the end of 2009.

The city government requires the rebuilt schoolhouses to stay clear of earthquake fault zones and to be able to withstand earthquakes of up to 8.0-magnitude.

Land for these school constructions will be allocated by the government for free. Taxes and administration fess involved will be exempted where possible, said Mayor Zhang Jinliang.

(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2008)