The resettlement of villagers in Luang Prabang affected by the Laos-China Railway is now complete.
Vientiane Times reports that the resettlement area, funded by China, is in Buam Or Village, Xiengyeun District, located around 220 kilometers north of Vientiane Capital.
Here, a community of 107 houses has been constructed to house 459 people affected by the railway project. The new resettlement village features infrastructure such as electricity and water supply, fully paved roads, a primary school, public toilets, and its own landfill.
Chinese contractor NORINCO International Cooperation hosted a ceremony to mark the handover of the new village last week, accompanied by Lao Minister of Public Works and Transport, Mr. Viengsavath Siphandone.
The handover ceremony included a Chinese calligraphy and drawing competition under the theme, “For a Shared Future.”
Speaking at the event, Minister Viengsavath said the new location had provided the villagers with improved living conditions and a new school for their children.
“China and Laos are friendly neighbors that “share the same breath and share the same destiny,” he said.
“Children represent the future of Laos and the calligraphy and drawings they have produced reflect the profound friendship between our peoples,” he was quoted as saying by Vientiane Times.
Meanwhile, Mr. Li Zhigong, China’s Consul General in Luang Prabang, said that the cornerstone of China-Laos connectivity is built on people-to-people ties, and that future of the two countries’ friendship lies in their youth.
He said he was pleased with the completion of the Buam Or Resettlement Village Project and that the development of cultural exchanges was particularly important, with Chinese calligraphy teachers brought in specially to promote Chinese culture at the newly-built primary school.
A friendship tree was planted at the site by both the Minister and the Consul General.
“In the calligraphy and painting competition, the children expressed their love for the Laos-China Railway, the natural environment, and the new Buam Aor village,” Philavan Simdavong, a 29-year-old kindergarten teacher told the media.
