China - Guangxi Highway Project : environmental impact assessment (Vol. 4 of 4)

E-290 VOL.4 The Highway Network Improvement Program in the Poverty Area of Guangxi Shuiren-Nanning Highway Project IEE & Environmental Action Plans Guangxi Communications Department Nanning, P. R. China September, 1999 Assessment Institution: Guangxi Environmental Protection Scientific Research Institute Assessment Certificate: No. 0949 Director: Wang Censheng Project Chief: Yu Wanli Deputy Project Chief: Gan Zhengqi  I  Members of Project Group: Niu Ling, Fan Zhenhui, Gu Zhanqi, Chen Bei Preface The assessed project herewith belongs to the World Bank Aided project under the Highway Network Improvement Program in poverty-stricken area of Shuiren-Nanning Highway project, it consists of ten sub-projects of road improvement. The target of the project construction is to improve the transportation conditions of the poor area nearby the main project, to promote local economic development and upgrade the comprehensive traffic capacity of the road network in this region. According to the environmental management policies for project construction of the World Bank, Guangxi Roads & Highways Bureau entrusted Guangxi Environmental Protection Scientific Research Institute with the task to compile the IEEs and EAPs in December of 1998. On this basis, our Institute conducted successively two times of field environmental investigation respectively in December of 1998 and April of 1999. In February of 1999, we finished the IEE and EAP for the seven sections including G209 Qintang - Wuli sub-project. In April of 1999, upon exchanged ideas with Guangxi Communications Department, we made necessary adjustment, amendment and addition to this report according to the suggestions proposed by the World Bank Delegation during its preparation mission. We also added G324 Baise - Tianlin section, G323 Pingcun - Juxu section and formed a revised report. In August of 1999, the World Bank delegation undertook detailed examiniation of the revised report and put forward written suggestion for revision. According to the revison suggestion, we again made necessary adjustment and revision, thus this Report is done.  I  Contents PART ONE INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION (IEE) 0 1. BEREF INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT 0 1.I Brief Introduction lo the Project 0 2 BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE ENVIRONMENT 3 2. 1 Description of natural environment 3 2.2 Present ecological situiation 5 2.3 Description of social environment 6 3. SCREENING CRITERIA 9 4. RESULT OF SCREENING. 9 PART TWO ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION PLANS (EAP) 9 5. ANALYSIS OF POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS 9 5.1 G209 Qintang - Wuli project 9 5.2 G209 Wuli-Heng county project 12 5.3 G209 Changle - Hepu couni project 13 5.4 G325 Shinan - Guigang city project /5 5.5 G325 Wiyia - Hepu county project 16 5.6 S20323 Wuming - Luoxu project 18 5.7 G323 Pingcun - Jiuxu project 19 5.8 G324 Baise - Tianlin project 20 5.9 Main conclusion of analysis of environmental impacts. 22 6. ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION PLANS 23 6.1 Environmental Management Plan 23 6.2 Environmental Supervision Plan 27 6.3 Environmental Monitoring Plan 28 6.4 Investment estimate for environmental protection facilities 31 7. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND ANALYSIS 33 7. 1 Range and Methods of Public Participation 33 7.2 Statistical Result and Public Participation 33 7.3 Solutions to the Problems of Public Participation 33 ANNEX: LISTS OF COMPONENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLANS OF THE HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM IN THE POVERTY AREA 35 Part One Initial Environmental Evaluation (IEE) 1. Brief Introduction to the Project 1.1 Brief Introduction to the Project 1.1.1 Project components and brief introduction The assessed project belongs to the attached road rehabilitation and improvement portion in poverty-stricken area of Shuiren-Nanning highway project, it consists of 10 sub-projects which are briefly introduced as the follows: (1) G324 Baise - Tianlin improvement project. It is situated in Baise city and Tianlin county of Guangxi, from K1977.26 to K2047.26 totally 65 km. The existing road belongs to grade III of asphalt pavement. The width of existing subgrade is 8.5m, width 7m. The improved road belongs to grade III, asphalt pavement, 8.5 m subgrade and width 7m. (2) G323 Pingcun - Jiuxu improvement project. It is situated within Hechi city of Guangxi,  from K1258 - K1276 of total 18km. Existing road belongs to grade IV, asphalt surface finish pavement, subgrade 9m, pavement width 6m. Improved road shall be grade III, cement concrete pavement, subgrade 8.5 m, pavement width 7m. (3) S20324 Mashan connecting road improvement project. It is situated within Mashan county, from KO to K4, totally 4 km. Existing road belongs to grade IV, asphalt surface finish, 9m subgrade, 7.5 m of pavement width. Improved road belongs to grade, cement concrete pavement, 12m subgrade and 9m pavement. (4) S20324 Dahua connecting road improvement project. It is situated within Dahua county, from KO to K16, totally 16 km. Existing road belongs grade IV, asphalt surface finish, 9m subgrade, 7.5m pavement width. Improved road belongs grade II, cement concrete pavement, 12 m subgrade and 9m pavement width. (5) G209 Qintang - Wuli improvement project. It is located within Guigang city, from K3127 to K3148, totally 11 km. Existing road belongs grade III, asphalt surface finish, llm subgrade, 8m pavement width. Improved road belongs grade II, cement concrete pavement, 11 m subgrade and 9m pavement width (6) G209 Wuli - Heng county improvement project.: Located in Guigang city and Heng county, from K3148 to K3178, totally 30 km. Existing road belongs grade III, asphalt surface finish, 8.5m subgrade, 6m pavement width. Improved road belongs grade II, cement concrete pavement, 8.5 m subgrade and 7m pavement width (7) G209 Changle - Hepu county improvement project. Located in Hepu county, from K3310 to K3330, totally 20 km. Existing rcad belongs grade III, asphalt surface finish, 1 lm subgrade, 7m pavement width. Improved road belongs grade II, cement concrete pavement, 11 m subgrade and 9m pavement width (8) G325 Shinan - Guigang improvement project. Located in Guangxi Xingye county and Guigang city, from K1500 to 1551, totally 37 km. Existing road belongs grade II, asphalt surface finish, 15m subgrade, 12m pavement width. Improved road belongs grade II, cement concrete pavement, 15 m subgrade and 12m pavement width (9) G325 Wujia - Hepu improvement project: Located in Hepu county of Guangxi, from K644 to K659, totally 15 km. Existing road belongs grade III, asphalt surface finish, 15m subgrade, 12m pavement width. Improved road belongs grade II, cement concrete pavement, 15 m subgrade and 12m pavement width (10) S20323 Wuming - luoxu improvement project. Located in Wuming county, from KIO to K40, totally 20 km. Existing road belongs grade III, asphalt surface finish, 12m subgrade, 7m pavement width. Improved road belongs grade II, cement concrete pavement, 12 m subgrade and 9m pavement width Construction standards and investment estimates of various sub-projects are shown in Table 1-1. Geological graph of the improvement project is shown in Graph 1-1, the Graph 1-2-1-9 show geological locations of various sub-projects. 1.1.2 Features of Project construction The 10 sub-projects of the project do not have plans of new road construction, and there is no requirement of land requisition. It is only to extend and strengthen the existing road belonging to road improvement project. Two sub-projects of Mashan connecting road and Dahua connecting road are included in the range of environmental assessment of the main project - Shuiren-Nanning Highway Project. Detail environmental assessment have been done in this regard (refer to the environmental assessment report of Shuiren-Nanning Highway project), so we do not undertake further assessment herewith. 1.1.3 Progress arrangement of project implementation The project plans to be implemented during 2000-2003. Respective implementing timetable are referred to Table 1 - 1.  I I  2 Brief Introduction to the Environment 2.1 Description of natural environment 2.1.1 Local topography, geomorphy and soil types of project sites Qintang - Wuli section, Wuli - Heng county section, Shinan - Guigang section are located in the southeast of Guangxi, the geomorphy mainly belongs to plains and hills. Wujia - Hepu section, Changle - Hepu county section are located in the south of Guangxi, the geomorphy belongs to alluvial plain and micro hillock around 30 km away from the Beibu Gulf. Jiuxu- Pingcun, Baise-Tianlin are located in the west of Guangxi, the formner belongs to karst topography showing continuos mountains and embedded with various sizes of round or honeycomb low- laying land; the latter are mainly hills and basins. Except for Pingcun-Jiuxu section, the eight sections are mostly of twisted roads of many curves and big slopes. Baise-Tianlin section has many small slopes, and the other six sections are mostly of smooth area but with some undulation. The districts of these sections are mainly of plains and micro hills. Details refer to Table 2-1 2.1.2 Climate The climates passed by the eight sections do not vary distinctly belonging to subtropical monsoon climate, showing long summer and short winter, adequate sunlight and rainfall, rainfall and heat of same season, long frost-free season, distinct dry and wet seasons etc. The district is also one of those districts of frequent disastrous weather. According to meteorological data of counties and cities, the summer begins from end of April and ends at mid of October nearly half a year. Winter starts from mid of January and ends at mid of February only one month. The average highest temperature is in July, and lowest in January. March and April are humid. November and December are the driest months. Typhoon mostly occurs in May - August. Meteorological data of different sections are shown in Table 2-2. 2.1.3 Hydrographic conditions of various sections The places along the eight sections have adequate surface water with well-developed rivers. There are many rivers, ditches, reservoirs and ponds. Main rivers are Yongjiang river, Yujiang river and Nanliujiang river, Diaojiang river and Lelihe river. Youjiang river: It originates from Jiuling mountain of Guangnan county of Yunnan province, it is the upper branch of Yujiang of Xijiang river belonging to the Pearl River water system. It runs through Wuming county of the eight sections. The perennial average flow of Youjiang river is 400 m3 /s , minimum flow in dry period is 40 m3 /s, the drainage area is 38612 square kilometers. Yujiang river: It is the lower reaches of Yongjiang river flowing through Heng county and Guigang city of the seven sections. According to the statistical dada of 1996, the catchrnent area of Yujiang river is 68.1 thousand square kilometers, annual runoff volume is 53.29 billion cubic meters, water conservation resources are 3558.6 thousand kW. The catchment area accounts for 28.2% of total area of Guangxi. The river is navigable. Nanliujiang river: It headsprings from Darongshan mountain belonging to littoral catchment area. It runs through Yulin city and Hepu county and directly to the sea. According to the statistical data of 1996, the catchment area of Nanliujiang river is 9.2 thousand square kilometers, annual runoff volume is 4.47 billion cubic meters. Diaojiang river: It headsprings from Nandan county running southward to Hongshuihe river through Duan county, belonging to Pearl River water system. There are 60 km running in Hechi prefecture. The forth section of Jiuxu - Pingcun road can identify the river. There are several small hydraulic power stations. Lelihe river: It is also called Jiajiang river. It originates from the south side of Mihualing of Bantao village, runs southeast-ward to the YouLjiang river, belonging to Pearl River water system. It has 83.5 km within Tianlin county. Catchment area is 875.3 square kilometers, average annual flow is 6 m3/s. Some sections of the road from Baise to Tianlin are along Lelihe river but keeping minimum distance of 50-60 meters to the river bank.  There are many reservoirs mainly of small sizes. There are eight reservoirs of above-medium sizes. Except for Chengbi Lake belonging to big size reservior which can be seen along the road, other reservoirs are at least one kilometer away from the highway. Main Topography and Geomorphy of Sections Table 2-1 Section Towns in the Geomorphy Main geology Main soil types section Qintang-Wuli Qintang, Sanli, Plan, hill Carbonic sys., Paddy soil, Wuli, North port Cambrian sys., cnmson soil area Permian svs. Wuli-Heng Wuli, Yunbiao, Plain, hill Cambnan sys., Paddy soil county Maling, Nayang, Devonian sys., quatemary period Fucheng Permnian sys., red soil, purple carbonic sys., Soil Trias sys. Changle-Hepu Shikang, Hepu -Hill Siluarin sys., Paddy soil, cretaceous sys. latente soil, crimson soil, alluvial soil, ____ ____ ____ ___ marshy soil Shinan- Shinan, Shanxin, Table land, Low cretaceous Paddy soi, Guigang Zhangjiang, plain, valley sys. tertiary sys., crimson soil, Qiaoxu, Batang, D evonian sys. limestone soil suigyang City Wujia-Hepu Wujia, Xingdao Alluvial plain Tertiary sys., Paddy soil, lake, Hepu cretaceous sys. laterite soil, Silurian sys. crimson soil, alluvial soil Wuming- Wuming, Lijian Hill Permian sys. Paddy soil, Yingxu Investment zone Carbonic sys. laterite soil, crimson soil, marshy soil Pingcun-Luoxu Jiuxu Karst low- Devonian sys., Red ' earth laying land Carbonic sys. subclass, paddy soil, limestone oil Baise-Tianlin Baise, Rongle, Valley, Trias, Quatemary Sand-shale, Wangdian, mountain, sys. paddy soil, Tianlin hills, basin limestone soil, _______________ _________________ I_ _I alluvial soil The implementation of sub-projects only cover road maintenance and improvement, and the whole project does not affect river and irrigation system. Therefore, the environmental impacts on surface water of project are not obvious. Brief Description of Climates of Counties & Cities along Sections Table 2-2 Name Annual aver Sunshine Annual aver. Frost-free Annual aver. Relative Annual aver. temperature time rainfall season wind speed humidity evaporation (0O) (hr./year) (mm) (days/year) (m/sec) (%) (mm) Guigang city 21.1 1703 1450 346 2.5 77.3 1629.3 Heng county 21.4 1778.3 1415.4 336 2.5 80 1655.4 Hepu county 22.4 1920.9 1650 350 3.1 >75 1019 Yulin city 21.9 1738.5 1582.7 1.7 80 1558.1 Wuming 21.7 1665.1 1249.2 336 1.9 81 1777.9 county . Yongning 21.8 1692.4 1243.7 353 2.4 1684.7 county Hechi city 20.4 1397.9 1470.0 345 Baise city 22.1 194.71 1053.38 350 1.2 76 132.13 Id  Tianlin 20.9 1696.4 1166.3 346 1.2 81 159.01 2.2 Present ecological situation 2.2.1 Qintang-Wuli section Ecological environment of both sides of the section of Qintang-Wuli of No.209 national highway is mainly agricultural vegetation cover. Within the range of 300 meters on both sides, paddy rice, sugar cane, fruit are growing. There are still other kinds of melons and fruits, vegetables and green manure. Natural vegetation are mainly thin shrubbery, original primitive forest remains little and there are only patches of masson pine and eucalyptus in the hilly districts. Forest coverage rate is about 15-20%. Parent material soils along the section are mainly sand- shale and granite. Soil types include: periodical water-logging paddy soil, submergienc paddy soil, ground water paddy soil, crimson soil and alluvial soil. Soil organic content is 1.80/%-2.7%. Soil erosion stages vary from low-grade to moderate degrees accounting for 90.1% of total erosive area. Partial sections have intensive and severe erosions. 2.2.2 Wuli-Heng county section Natural vegetation covered along the section has been substituted by artificial vegetation indicating rather highly developed agriculture. Main farm crops are paddy, sugar cane, jasmine flower, fruits. Forest vegetation are mainly village protection forest, road protection forest etc. There are some thin forest growing in hilly area featuring arbor tree of eucalyptus and masson pine. Forest coverage rate is 15-25%. Parent material soils along the section are mainly lime rock, granite, sand-shale and quatemary period red soil. Soil types are mainly paddy soil and dry land crimson soil. Soil organic content is 1.5%-2.8%. Soil erosion stages in this section cover vaiious grades but mainly of low and moderate degrees accounting for 80.2%. Partial sections have severe erosion occupying 9.8% of total erosive area. 2.2.3 Changle-Hepu section This section is an agricultural district mainly of agricultural ecological environment. Main agricultural vegetation include paddy, sugar cane, com, peanut, waternelon, vegetables and fruits. Paddy plantation accounts for around 60%. Soil maturation degree is high. Soil parent materials are complicate. Parent materials of irrigated field are mainly seaside sedimentary deposits. Soil types include periodical water-logging paddy soil, submergienc paddy soil. Tillage thickness is less than 15 cm. Due to frequent storms, soil is mainly of sandy loam soil. Soil erosion grade features severe degree accounting for 71.2% of total erosive area; erosion grades of low-grade and moderate only account for 19.0%. 2.2.4 Shinan-Guigang section This section is the agricultural production base showing smooth relief. Therefore, the ecological environment of the section is mainly of agricultural vegetation. Main crops are: paddy, sugar cane, com, peanut, cassava, vegetable and fruits. Natural vegetation are mostly scattered masson forest and eucalyptus, plus road protection forest and village protection forest along the section. Forest coverage rates are between 15-25%. Other ecological environments belong to the same as those of Qintang-Wuli section. 2.2.2.5 Wujia-Hepu section Partial sections of the sub-project are hills and plains. The vegetation of hills are mainly of scattered masson forest showing minority of eucalyptus; micro hillocks are mostly of fruits. Plain sections include farmland.. Main crops are paddy, sugar cane and corn etc. Forest coverage rates are between 20-30%. Soils along the section are slope washes of sand-shale and granite in hills, deluvial washes, red soil of quatemary period; tableland belongs to ancient shallow sea deposit; plain belongs to river alluvial materials. Paddy soil belongs to medium loam. Organic content is between 1.0-2.5%. Soil erosion of the section features severe grade belonging to destructive soil erosion. 2.2.6 Wuming-Luoxu section  The section is the district of paddy and fruits. Annual growing area of paddy are 1615 ha.; fruit plantation area are 1289.8 ha. Main fruits are litchi, longan, orange and mango etc. Natural forest vegetation are thin masson forest showing forest coverage rate of 18-25%. Soil parent materials are developed from sand-shale, including crimson soil, tillage crimson soil, limy soil etc. Soil erosions of the section belong to low-grade and moderate degrees, accounting 93.2% of total area; intensive erosion accounts for 6.8%. Soil erosion of the section is not very serious. 2.2.7 Pingcun-Jiuxu section The section locates at the southern edge of Yun-Gui Plateau showing good climate conditions and rich biological resources. The ecological environment of the road-improvement section are mainly of forest vegetation. Due to frequent human activities, protophyte vegetation nearly vanishes and artificial forest have substituted. In the hills and mountains, mixed broadleaf-conifer forest, conifer forest, road side protection forest etc are distributed and manly of broadleaf evergreen forest. Some places have fruit trees. Forest covering rate in the area is between 30%-40%. Agriculture is not highly developed along the section showing scattered small farmland. Main crops are paddy rice, corn etc. Soils are mostly red soil, limestone soil, alluvial soil and paddy soil. Soils are poor. Soil erosion belongs to light degree and the potential danger belongs to light degree. 2.2.8 Baise - Tianlin section The section locates at the south-western edge of Yun-Gui Plateau. The ecological environment is mainly of artificial vegetation, including coniferous wood. Main trees are masson pine, fir tree etc. Slight slopes are gardening land. Valley and slight-slope hills are mainly of agricultural vegetation. Forest covering rate is about 30%. A number of places are mainly of shrubby grass. Protophyte vegetation have been totally damaged, and wild animals are very rare. Soils along the section are mainly red soil, crimson soil. Soils lean to be sour. Soil erosion is relatively serious, but mainly of light-degree, accounting for 74% of total erosion, moderate erosion is 17%, turbidity erosion is 9%. Storms will cause serious water erosion. Therefore, it is necessary to undertake vegetation protection along the section to avoid the influence on the highway. 2.3 Description of social environment 2.3.1 Brief introduction of social economy The sections under improvement and rehabilitation cover three cities and five counties, crossing twenty-six towns. The places of direct impacts are: Baise city, Tianlin county, Hechi city, Wuming county, Heng county, Hepu county, Guigang urban area and Xingye county. Places of indirect impact cover other places of Guangxi. The economic situations of the places of direct impact are briefly stated as the follows: Baise city: Baise city is situated in the west of Guangxi with Nanning-Kunring railing and national highway No.323 and 324 crossing. It the important place in the western Guangxi to connect Yunnan and Guizhou. Total population is 315.2 thousand people, including 242.5 thousand people of minorities of Zhuang, Yao and Miao etc., accounting 77% of total population. Hydraulic, mineral and agricultural resources are very rich, thus forming an economic system that agriculture is the base with mining machinery, sugar making, construction materials, chemistry, electric power as the backbone industries. Tianlin county: It is situated in the north-western part of Guangxi and is one of the 48 poverty- stricken counties in Guangxi. Tota population is 222 thousand people, including 202 thousand village people. It has abundant resources of land, forest, minerals etc., but without suitable and reasonable development due to backward transportation. Industrial structure is mainly of agriculture, and the industry is only on the starting point. Hechi city: It is located in the north-western part of Guangxi and it is the bottle-neck for Guizhou and Sichun etc. to the sea. Total population is 307 thousand people. The area has rich mineral, hydraulic, forest and touring resources. Industry features metallurgy, foodstuff, cement, farm tools etc. forming the backbone body of economy. Agriculture is mainly of plantation and livestock production. Wuming county: It is located in the mid-south of Guangxi. It is a county of Zhuang minority and concentration of various minorities. Zhuang minority accounts for over 85%. Industrial structure  mainly features coordinative development of agriculture. Natural and touring resources are rich. Yilingyan cave is one of the famous tour spots in Guangxi. Hepu county: It is situated in the south ol Guangxi facing to the Beibu Gulf. It is the world- famous hometown of South Pearl. Total coastal length is 307 km. It enjoys the exceptional advantage of ocean resources. Mineral and touring resources are very rich. Industrial structure is mainly of agriculture. Marine fishing and aquiculture account for great proportion. Heng county: It is located in the south-eastern part of Guangxi. Total population is 1039.3 thousand people, and rural population is 919 thousand people. Good land and natural environment enable Heng county to become the important base for rice and sugar production in Guangxi. Urban area of Guigang city: Guigang is located in the south-eastem part of Guan.gxi. It is the important inland harbor and transportation hub of the Xijiang River Economic Corridor, it is also the important industrial centre of the south-east Guangxi. Industry is the main economic pillar of the city. Sugar making, construction materials, food staff and chemistry and relative industries are quite well-developed. Xingye county: It is located in the south-eastern part of Guangxi. Total population is 630.8 thousand people, including rural population 603.9 thousand people. Rich mineral and natural resources have provide advantageous conditions for it to attain remarkable achievement for the township enterprises. In 1997, gross domestic product of the whole county is 2.27 billion yuan, which includes over 50% financial revenue from private enterprises. Main Economic Data of the Places Impacted by Project in 1997 Table 2-3 Am _ Who Bai| Talon Hl di W1T Hqep Hag G _gik Xjr GtHgxi ct, mauy pne rya= mm zy _ _ .nI ub caty D~aa PqlOa,i(10,1O)1 4633 31.52 22.2 30.4 64 87.13 103.98 161.94 63.08 Cubv&d lad 264.86 2.67 2.3 1.57 5.6 5.67 6.38 7.92 2.63 (10tM U) I_I_I Cukv1 la id pe 0.07 0.13 0.11 ID.08 0.10 0.08 0.07 0.06 0.04 GNP 2015.2 22.70 4.94 2:2.11 31.72 4 8.12 38.33 43.47 22.69 (QGb1f n_ _ Avaa GNP pr 4356 7220 2214 7288 4959 5531 3697 2720 3609 1ai.zis& aghiral 2346.88 21.45 4.66 19.71 38.76 58.51 33.35 57.64 31.01 g AXl1 vair (Q11blknY)_ _ _ _ _ 1rirda gros act 1849.99 16.54 2.96 17.05 24.49 46.71 15.93 39.78 19.33 -At (0. I 1uliY) I_ . _I_I_I Agniaiura gros 496.89 4.91 1.70 2.66 14.27 11.80 17.42 17.86 11.68 y) (Qlb_ ___ _ ____ ___ __ Table 2-3 shows the main economic data of 1997 of the counties and cities covered by the sub- projects. 2.3.2 Transportation situation Guangxi is the most convenient pathway to sea for the south-west China and it is also the traffic passage connecting the south-west and southern China. After years of development, transportation has achieved remarkable progress, infrastructare and transport equipment are under continuous improvement, hence formning a comprehensive transport network with principal road and railway communications plus the assistant waterway and aviation transport. The transport network of the section impacted by the project is well-developed. Five national highways of No.209, No.322, No.323, No.324, No.325 and provincial hi,ghways of No.20323, No.20124, No.20133 and No.20222 cross the project section. There are many village roads connecting with these highways showing cbnvenient transportation. But due to inferior standards and bad road conditions of these  roads, these sections are turning into streets. Sections which are planned to be improved and rehabilitated are in saturated traffic condition. 2.3.3 Residents' living standards Primary education is popularized in the sections covered by the project. One village has one primary school, one town has one to three middle schools. Schooling rate of school-age children reaches more than 98%. Each town has one hospital with 4-15 ward beds each ten thousand population. Telephone is the main device of communication among towns and villages and with outside world. Telephone owning rate is 100-500 units every ten thousand population. Annual income per capita of town residents is between 1700 - 6800 yuan, while that of peasants is about 2000 yuan. According to the yearbook of Guangxi of 1998, comparisons between living standards of people in affected eight cities and counties and the average figures of Guangxi are shown in Table 2-4. From the figures of the table, peasant's average annual income of the eight cities and counties (Tianlin's is a bit lower), schooling rates and number of middle school students etc. are near to or higher than those of average of whole Guangxi. Employee's average income per capita, residential area (except Heng county of moderate level) are lower than those of average figures of whole Guangxi. Communication facilities of Baise and Hechi are well-developed and with good medical conditions. Communication and medical conditions of other six places are lower than the provincial average figures. 2.3.4 Tourism resources The places impacted by the project have rich tourism resources including beautiful Baise Chengbi lake, water-fall group of Fulv river, Sanchuan cave of Tianlin Pingshan, Longjiang beauty of Hechi, the small three gorges of Liujia, Wuming's Yilingyan cave, Lingshui reservoir, Damingshan mountain, Hepu's Xingdaohu lake vacationland, Shankou's mangrove conservation district, Xingye's famous Shiyita tower, Longchuanyan cave enjoying the name of "the first cave in the south", Guigang's Xishan mountain beauty spot, Nanshan temple, Donghu beauty spot and Yingtian temple of Nanshan mountain of Heng county etc. According to statistic data, the places influenced by the project have received 52997 tourists in 1997 with total tourism income of 8.55 million U. S. Dollars. The above beauty spots and historical relics are kilometers away from the highways which are under improvement planning, and the project's impacts on these places will not be obvious. Living Standards of Residents Impacted by Project Table 2-4 Amea WAE* Bai& Tmin Hoch Wu*g Hqep Hag Gupg XID G=Vd~ ci~ auly ak, cauil Mly airy Ula Con EBroo's AaWE 5540 5062 4617 5795 4996 4575 4818 4398 4284 anjWnm per capa Peasis avaW amdI 1875 2096 1604 1843 2298 2668 2392 2004 2399 Acapre