Fast aid, reconstruction to Soviet earthquake area By ANATOLY ARKHIPENKO MOSCOW (APN) — The Cen- tral Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the USSR Council of Ministers have adopted decisions on the render- ing of immediate aid to the popu- lation of several areas in the cen- tral Asia republics of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenia, hit by an earthquake on May 17. Particularly great damage was done to the community of Gazi, Where 10,000 people were left Without a roof over their heads, and also to the ancient city of Bukhara. A number of people Were killed and wounded. Homes and communication Systems were wrecked on that Same day and in the same areas by Mud avalanches resulting from torrential thunderstorms. The CPSU Central Committee 4nd the USSR Council of Minis- ters expressed deep sympathy to the inhabitants of the disaster areas, and expressed con- dolences to the families and rela- tives of the dead. Steps to render assistance were taken without delay. Same-Day Aid On the day of these natural Calamities, food and medical Supplies, as well as tents and pre- fab dwellings for the homeless gan arriving in the disaster areas. Restoration work is being Carried out by highly-skilled builders, provided with all kinds Of machines and equipment, and also by military units. Within hours of the earth- quake, Gazli was visited by Sharif ashidov, alternate member of the Political Bureau of the CPSU €ntral Committee and First Secretary of the Central Commit- tee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan, and the heads of a humber of union and republican ix. a * Sos Reconstruction after earthquakes in Uzbekistan will include seismic- proof buildings such as this office block. ministries. That night electric lights went on again, communications were restored, and the water system . was restarted in the community. Experienced specialists arrived there from other republics. Seismic-Proof Houses, hospitals, schools, and pre-school establishments will be built in the quake- and mudfiow-hit ‘areas in 1976-77. In By GORDON MASSIE eOCHL USSR — The 12th Mternational Track and Field SomPetition, sponsored by the OViet newspaper Pravda, took Place in Sochi on May 11-13. Ath- Stes from 25 countries par- Ucipated. The Pravda tournament has 8teatly influenced the develop- Ment of track and field sports in € Soviet Union, providing World class competition in all Vents. Many world records have Seen set at these games. Or the Soviets the games were a integral part of the prepara- /Ons for the Montreal Olympics 2 July. Final selection of the Viet team will take place after © Soviet championships and Mpetitions with teams from ~teat Britain and West Germany Une. The most notable achievement A the games was by the Soviet thlete Yuri Sedikh, who threw . © hammer 78.86 metres break- e the official world record of -5 and just short of the pending Mark of 79.3 by West German "alter Schmidt. This promises to Ps i a, - Paper hosts athletics meet be aclose event at the Olympics. A tight race in the women’s long jump saw the lead change hands several times before Lydia Alfieva of the Soviet Union edged Pan American champion Anna Bella Alexander of Cuba with a jump of 6.47 metres. The 10,000 metres was won in clever tactical fashion by Muyana from Tanzania in 28 minutes 19.2 seconds. Soviet records were established in the pole vault by Yuri Proherenko with a vault of 5.49 metres and in the 100 metres sprint by Ludmila Maslakova who clocked 11.1 seconds. World champions in their events Ludmila’ Bragina and Fania Melnyk won their respec- tive events, although inclement weather affected their times and distances. Bragina won the 1,500 metres in 4:6.2. Melnyk tossed the discus 67.24 metres. A very successful meet ended ona strong note of friendship and brotherhood with the presenta- tion of prizes. All agreed that the meet had been a great success and many will be competing again at the next games. keeping with a government deci- sion, money has been allocated for this. It is difficult to call this simply restoration, because the program of work envisages far more being built than was destroyed. In place of the old, ill-equipped homes, modern, seismic-proof buildings with modern conveniences will rise. Advance Preparation Incidentally, on April’8, when the earth rocked in Gazli the first time, the population were warned of possible fresh tremors.. The tenants who doubted the strength of their houses were moved then and there to tents and caravans. Also on April 8, headquarters were set up to handle the con- sequences of the earthquake. It began on May 17 when, at almost the same minute, the elements again made themselves feit. Thanks to all this, there were fewer casualties than might have been the case. A wonderful tradition exists in the USSR of the entire country coming to the aid of quake-hit areas. Such was the case, for in- stance, after the violent earth- quake in 1966 which rendered homeless every third resident of Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan. All the Soviet republics sent their people, materials and machines to take part in restoration work. Each contingent rebuilt its ‘‘own neighborhood.” : The same will happen to Gazli. It is symbolic that three days after the nation began rendering assis- tance to the community, a monu- ment in honor of the friendship of peoples was unveiled in Tash- kent. This sculptured group, showing a strong man shielding with his body a woman and her child against the effects of an earthquake, is set up in the epi- center of the earthquake that shook the city 10 years ago. By FILS DELISLE Tribune Berlin Correspondent BERLIN — The Ninth Con- gress of the Socialist Unity Party May-18-22 took stock of the mas- sive achievements of the German Democratic Republic during the last five years, and proclaimed a program of continuing progress for the people in the future. Erich Honecker, SUP General Secretary, presented the report of the Central Committee to the de- legates. Declaring that the prog- ress called for by the last congress had been achieved, he added: ‘‘The Central Committee prop- oses to the congress to consis- ‘tently and unswervingly continue the Party’s central policy of stead- ily raising the people’s material and cultural living standards.” The cheering delegates showed their unmistakeable approval of the policy that has made the last five-year period the greatest in the history of the GDR. The program offered by Hon- ecker for the next five years in- cludes ‘‘a higher level of social production’ along with ‘‘a steep increase in economic perfor- mance’’. Pointing out that the leading capitalist countries are. still plagued by mass unemployment, crisis and uncertainty, Honecker said the vast housing program in the GDR will bring another 2.2 million citizens improved housing’ by 1980. The five-day working week will be shortened. The net eamings of the people will in- crease by at least 20% by 1980, with prices continuing on their stable level. The government will ‘put more money into industry, medical care, the educational sys- tem, old age pensions, cultural ac- tivities and the all round im- provement of the people’s living and working conditions. It was clear to observers that this prog- m of planned and uninterrupted improvement is inconceivable and impossible in the capitalist countries. For the first time at such a con- gress, Honecker also raised the question of the ultimate transition to communist society. The ad- vances the GDR will continue to make in fully elaborating the de- veloped socialist order, he said, will become stages in the transi- tion to the higher and more ad- vanced form of communist society. No wonder this young GDR wo- man is smiling. She has no worries about cutbacks in government spending or about unem- ployment. : Among the 103 delegations pre- sent from more than 90 countries, were official representatives from the Socialist Parties of Belgium, France, Italy and Japan. This was seen as a favorable development in the process of bringing together all sections of the workers’ and socialist movements in the world. Present from Canada were Communist Party delegates, Nan McDonald from Toronto and Jack Phillips from Vancouver. Tim Buck, the late Canadian Communist leader, was honored when the delegates stood in si- lence in a tribute to outstanding figures of the world movement who had died since the last SUP congress Erich Honecker told the con- gress: ‘‘We are fully justified in saying that the past five-year period brought out the advan- tages of-socialism with particular clarity. None of the major capitalist countries attained a comparable degree of continuity or rate of growth in its economy over that period. The German Democratic Republic consoli- dated its position among the world’s 10 leading industrial na- tions.”’ BIG BUSINESS APPROVES BRITISH WAGE DEAL LONDON — World big business has given its approval to the wage control deal between the British government and the Trades Union Congress, Chancellor of the Exchequer Dennis Healey announced. Among those who found the deal ‘very encouraging’ were the Inter- ‘national Monetary Fund, the European Economic Community Com- mission, and West German Chancellor Helmut Schmitd Three members of the Trades Union Council executive after approv- ing the wage deal. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 4, 1976—Page 5