trash
Print Edition
LIU Gujun could have been a wealthy man had he not dissolved his successful ferry company in 2003 to collect trash from the Yangtze River.
That was the year the Three Gorges Dam reservoir began storing water. As levels rose, mountains of trash and other debris found their way into the river. The garbage was so thick in some places people could walk across it.
This threatened to disrupt the flow of water and block water traffic from Liu’s hometown in Wanzhou District in southwest China’s Chongqing.
The seasoned captain volunteered to clean up the trash. “I was obliged to do so. I grew up in a river town, fed by the Yangtze,” Liu said.
Liu’s father was a fisherman, as were many relatives.
At the time, Liu, a bachelor of engineering from Chongqing University, was managing two ferries carrying sightseers along the Yangtze every day.
Backed by the local government, Liu gathered some 20 men and 10 boats, including his family’s two ferries and two fishing boats, to clear trash from the river.
“I knew it was impossible to make big money, but as we would be on the government payroll we would enjoy a decent reimbursement package,” said Liu.
That support, however, was not in place in the first three years of the campaign and, to retain his team, Liu paid their wages — more than 200,000 yuan (US$30,400) — himself.
Liu now makes around 2,000 yuan a month and his wife, who cooks for the team, earns 1,000 yuan.
Liu sometimes worries about the lack of people to take over his job but he is relieved to see the river improve, thanks to the efforts of Chongqing’s 500 Yangtze cleaners and better awareness of the environment.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
