Shandong Province’s Menghe Shuanghao Reservoir project occupies a large amount of riparian forest land, with the construction party heavily extracting river sand for sale. Recently, in the Meng River beach area, the poplar trees planted by farmers from Dongshigu Village were completely cut down without compensation to the contracted land, leading to protests by villagers.
Meng River, a tributary of the Yi River in the Huai River Basin, is an important branch of the Yi River that originates from Meng Mountain, hence its name. The upper reaches of the Meng River are located in the southeast of Mengyin County, Linyi, Shandong Province. It flows eastward from Shuanghao Town in Yinan County, through Dongshigu Village, Shuanghao, Nanshimen, Qingtuo and other townships, and eventually joins the Yi River in Suyang Village to the south.
Villagers from Dongshigu Village told reporters that the Meng River has the longest river beach area to the east of the village, covering an area of 200 mu, which is individually contracted land for the villagers. Almost every household planted poplar trees (some have also planted peach trees) on the river beach. Before the contracted period ended, all compensation money was given to the village collective, leaving nothing for the ordinary people.
Currently, villagers have taken the initiative to block the roads, stopping the construction party from damaging the river beach and extracting sand, demanding fair compensation. Last month, a physical altercation broke out between the two sides, with one villager almost being pushed over.
Mr. Chen, a villager, said, “The contracted period is thirty years, and we’ve only cultivated for seventeen years, with thirteen more to go. The province is building the Shuanghao Reservoir and requisitioning our land. The compensation seems to be over ten million. The compensation for the 200 mu of forest land all went to the village collective, not a penny given to the villagers. The purpose of this fund and how it will be used is unknown to the local residents, so their dissatisfaction is particularly strong.
He added, “Moreover, they privately took one million from it for investment. The town demands each village to contribute money to establish a glove factory. Without the consent of the villagers, they diverted the funds for their own use.
“It has been many years since we’ve had a village meeting; everything is decided by them alone, and the villagers don’t even have basic rights to information. It’s as if there are no human rights at all.”
Another villager expressed, “The poplar trees planted on the beach by farmers have now been cut down completely, leaving them bare, all bulldozed. Over a thousand mu of forests have been destroyed, with over three hundred mu on the river beach alone. The entire contracted land was clear-cut, and the suffering of the villagers is beyond words.
“The people don’t agree; they say the compensation is unreasonable. The local police came to forcibly cut down the trees, resorting to repression and threats. Legally, the police shouldn’t be involved in the requisition process. Everything is in chaos now, and the only way for the villagers is to defend their rights by demanding explanations from the construction team.”
Mr. Chen explained that the construction party is Linyi Water Resources Group, and there are a total of four ships on the river, two large and two small. They can fill a ship with sand in about eight minutes, with each ship carrying about forty tons. They work from dawn till dusk, transporting sand continuously by trucks around the clock, and have set up a river sand sales department on-site.
Currently, the sand extraction vessels are still forcibly operating, continuing to extract sand from the river. “When villagers try to stop them, they simply ignore us. Firstly, they put up nets, and secondly, the boats are in the water, making it difficult for villagers to approach. Basically, the bidding company takes a portion as a commission, the Water Resources Group takes a portion, the town government takes a part, the county government takes a part; the villagers receive nothing,” he said. “The sand is sold at 60 yuan per ton. Villagers speculate that the total value of river sand around the Shuanghao Reservoir area could be around 17 billion. This amount is excessive for building the reservoir.”
Public information shows that the construction of the Menghe Shuanghao Reservoir began in November 2022 and is a key water conservancy project in Shandong Province. The dam site is located on the main stem of the Meng River between Guozhuang Village in Shuanghao Town, Yinan County, and Chaoshan North Village, involving the relocation of 4562 households from 23 villages in Shuanghao Town. The total project investment is 11.6 billion yuan, with a total construction period of 40 months.
Mr. Chen stated, “The majority of villagers do not wish to be relocated due to the unreasonable and unfair compensation. The compensation for homesteads and farmland is based on the lowest standards. Many villagers are now fighting for their rights and hiring lawyers from Beijing to file lawsuits.
“The compensation for farmland generally ranges from 60,000 to 300,000 yuan. However, they have only paid 61,000 yuan and even deducted a 20% tax, leaving it at 48,800 yuan, and the lawyer said this is illegal as tax deductions are not allowed for farmers’ compensation. The compensation for a two-story home on a homestead land area could be reduced by over 30 square meters, resulting in a loss of 20-30,000 yuan.”
He continued, “The compensation for fruit trees is also very unreasonable. A fruit tree in its fruitful period should be compensated over a thousand yuan, which most villagers would accept. However, they are only compensating up to 400 yuan, with the majority receiving only 300 yuan or even less. This includes only 30, 50, 3, 5 yuan. No compensation was offered for poplar trees, and the villagers are discussing how these nationally funded projects are making them poorer. While relocation includes resettlement housing, most villagers still need to pay extra to live in these dwellings, as the compensation is insufficient to cover the costs, especially for the elderly who cannot afford this additional expense.”
When reporters reached out to Ms. Han, the secretary of Dongshigu Village, to inquire about the situation, she claimed that the beach area is the village’s contracted land, and all compensation was credited to the village collective account. She explained, “The beach was contracted in 2006, due to expire in 2036, but it was requisitioned for a major national project. This money belongs to the collective and can be used for the village’s public welfare. For example, if a family sells a sheep for 400 yuan, can the husband and wife each get 100 yuan and the child 100 yuan too?”
She clarified, “The area occupied by the East Shigu Village for building the reservoir is relatively small, totaling less than 400 mu, including over 200 mu of cultivated land and around a hundred mu of river beach. During floods, the water enters the village; currently, only a portion of the forest land, less than 200 mu, was affected. All land surface materials have been compensated, as assessed by a third party; not a penny was retained but distributed to the farmers entirely.”
Regarding the convening of village meetings, she emphasized that party members and village representatives hold meetings together every month.
The issue arises as to whether the compensated land is given to the village collective or distributed to the affected farmers. Upon inquiry, it was found that similar cases occur frequently in the process of land requisition. According to laws such as the “Land Management Law,” after receiving funds, a collective economic organization should organize a village assembly or a meeting of villagers’ representatives to decide on the distribution of land compensation.
Different provinces have specific regulations on the proportion of land compensation distribution. In cases where family-contracted land is requisitioned, up to 80% of the total amount of compensation is paid to farmers, with the remaining percentage, not exceeding 20%, retained by the collective for public welfare purposes.
Dongshigu Village is also the hometown of renowned rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng. Chen Guangcheng stated, in accordance with the Contract Law’s legal provisions, a village assembly must be held annually to decide on major matters, and the village committee alone does not have the authority to make such decisions.
Without reaching compensation agreements with the villagers or signing contracts, local officials forcibly sold the villagers’ forest land to some companies, allowing them to use boats to extract sand there, effectively depriving the villagers of their land. This act is essentially a form of robbery.
Recalling, he said, “When I was young, those woods had huge trees, so big that you couldn’t even hug them. Various kinds of trees grew there; you could speak and hear the echo for miles without seeing the sun… The forest is away from the river, but because it is near the river, it has the best sedimentary soil, the highest yielding land. The sandy land by the river, with sand underneath and silt on top like a delta, accumulated, and the villagers planted trees atop.”
There are already numerous reservoirs in Shandong. According to Xinhua News Agency, the Meng River is the only major tributary of the Yi River without a large-scale control project (reservoir).
“Upstream, just about ten kilometers from Dongshigu Village, they are destroying our village,” said Chen Guangcheng. “Reservoirs themselves are costly projects that harm the people; local officials seek funds from the central government for their own gain. The Meng River is now hardly recognizable as a river; constructing a reservoir on such a river in the name of flood control and water collection is misleading. Moreover, it seizes a large amount of prime farmland from surrounding villages. All the fertile land near the river is being wasted.”