ESPN Olympic Sports

BEIJING -- A Beijing municipal official has disputed claims that people evicted to make way for Olympic venue construction had been impoverished by low compensation payments, arguing the payout had been generous.

Zhang Jiaming, deputy director of the Beijing city's government's construction committee, on Tuesday said the payments had allowed people to buy better housing and some could even afford a car with the left over money.

He said 14,901 people -- involving 6,037 households -- were relocated to build the 31 venues in Beijing.

The figures are in stark contrast to an estimate in December by the Geneva-based Center for Housing Rights and Evictions, which claimed 1.5 million people would be displaced by the time the Games are held. The group estimated 13,000 people were being evicted monthly in preparation for the Games.

Zhang said his number represented only residents whose homes were on sites where venues were built and did not include other relocations brought on by highways, subways and the hundreds of skyscrapers being build to ready the city for this Aug. 8-24 Games.

Zhang spoke at a news conference at the new 18,000-seat Olympic basketball venue in west Beijing, which is expected to attract capacity crowds daily during the Games. The venue will hold its first test event in April -- a women's basketball tournament.

In Beijing's rapid development in the last 10 years, complaints have been common from homeowners who have been moved away to make way for development. In many cases residents of older neighborhoods say they are not adequately compensated and are forced to relocate outside the city. They often accuse developers and officials of profiting on the deals.

Zhang said there were no forced evictions involving Olympic venues and that the average compensation per household was $98,000.

He said many of those displaced were small farmers living in sparsely settled areas in north and west Beijing.

"The relocation projects went very smoothy, so there was no one forced out of their homes for the venue projects," Zhang said. "After resettlement we guaranteed a much better life than the past."

"With the additional money they could even buy cars for themselves," Zhang added. "I will tell you a real story -- Some of the farmers became city residents and they got new jobs as cleaners and with the additional money they got their own cars."

He said renters who qualified were also compensated, but he gave no details, citing "very complicated" rules.

Reached by the Associated Press, a lawyer who works on family relocation cases said the government figures seemed reliable.

"The amount of compensation is reasonable," he said. "I believe the government gave a generous amount because these are reallocations that involve Olympic construction. It is connected with the stability of the society and the reputation of the government.

"I can't say whether the amount is very high. The compensation varies from area to area, and it also depends on the size of the house and how many people are in the family being relocated."

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

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