Guangdong will not greenlight construction projects if the compensation for requisitioning farmland is below the basic minimum set by a resettlement protection standard, the provincial land and resources department announced at its management meeting held Monday.

Currently, every city in the province has reported its resettlement bottom line to the provincial authorities and are waiting for final approval, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

To cut out the middlemen, Guangdong has also tried the "real name cash system," where the compensation for land requisition will be paid directly to farmers.

The provincial Party secretary, Zhang Dejiang, was quoted recently by newspapers as saying that no land would be requisitioned until farmers and authorities agreed on the compensation.

In response, the land and resources department said they would hold public hearings on the compensation and resettlement policy for every case of land requisition. If the farmers opt not to attend such hearings, their representatives are required to present a formal document as evidence that two-thirds of all relocated farmers are giving up the chance out of their own will.

Besides ensuring the cash is paid directly to the farmers, the authorities have urged local departments to find jobs for them and reserve the land for their housing. The provincial government will also subsidize farmers if they need to apply for medical insurance and endowment policies.

Meanwhile, 10 to 15 percent will be taken out from the land transfer fees to establish a land requisition compensation resettlement fund for helping farmers who live in poverty.

It is reported that from 1986 to 2005, about 820 Guangdong Party members and leaders in the land and resources departments were punished for corruption.

Zhou Tianyong, a professor at the Central Party School, estimated last year that the resale of farmland for development has brought in US$600 billion nationwide since 2003, and only 10 percent of that was paid to farmers in compensation.

Editor: Yan