Chapter 288 - 150: Spring in the Northern Country

Chapter 288: Chapter 150: Spring in the Northern Country

"This desert is called the Tamin Chagan Desert. Within Home County, it’s about 60 kilometers long and 5 kilometers wide, with a total area of 280 square kilometers. It spans across four towns and sumu: Liujiazi Town, Manghan Sumu, Elushun Town, and Kulun Town."

Jiang Miao’s eyes flickered. "280 square kilometers? Shouldn’t that be 420,000 mu?"

Liu Zhiben smiled and explained, "Well, the local government developed two scenic areas on the edge of the desert—the Tamin Chagan Desert Scenic Area and the Silver Sand Bay Scenic Area. With a highway cutting through as well, that section accounts for about 70,000 mu being carved out."

Hearing Liu Zhiben’s explanation, Lü Weibin brought up something that happened a while ago when he first came to scout the area. "Speaking of which, I originally went to Bashi County to discuss a partnership. The Gubao Map Desert there is much larger, about 1.5 million mu. Unfortunately, it’s been designated a national 4A-level scenic area, so the local authorities were hesitant about our investment project."

"It doesn’t matter. They’ll make the right choice next year," Jiang Miao said with a smile, shaking his head.

After all, changing the designated use of a 4A-level scenic area isn’t something that can be pushed through casually, nor can it be done in a short amount of time.

The two scenic areas in Home County, on the other hand, were small attractions set up by the local government themselves. Therefore, even changing the use of the entire Tamin Chagan Desert was of little consequence.

After all, this place was originally a desert, not just sandy land. Things couldn’t get any worse.

That’s why Home County dared to approve 350,000 mu of desert for Hailufeng Company.

Jiang Miao continued to ask, "What’s the contract price? And the contract term?"

"Fifty yuan per mu per year for a 30-year term. The local government guarantees they won’t raise the price. The contract is already signed," Lü Weibin replied.

Jiang Miao nodded slightly at this price. He had previously looked into the land contract fees in Zhelimu City.

For example, for a desert management project in Servant County, Zhelimu City, the contract fee was about 90 yuan/mu/year. And for a severely desertified grassland restoration project in Xiaojieji Town, Kailu County, the base price was 60 yuan/mu/year.

But to be clear, that was money paid *by* the local government *to* the contractor for managing the desert and sandy lands, not the other way around.

The land secured by the Monan Branch, however, was in an area of shifting and semi-shifting sand dunes, not local reserve farmland or grassland.

At first, the local authorities also thought Hailufeng Company was there for a desert management project, so they were very cold. After all, projects where the government had to pay out were a source of income for the local villagers and herders.

It wasn’t until Lü Weibin said they were there to contract the desert to develop it into farmland that the locals became enthusiastic—especially after hearing they wanted to contract several hundred thousand mu.

After all, 350,000 mu of desert, even at 50 yuan per mu per year, amounted to 17.5 million yuan in annual income.

"How much of the equipment has arrived?"

Liu Zhiben replied, "The first batch of equipment from Sany Heavy Industry arrived two days ago. That’s about half of it. The rest will be delivered before the end of the month."

"There’s a big shortage of drivers, I assume?"

Lü Weibin nodded with a wry smile. "It’s huge. The 150 people we recruited from Ji Province are all experienced drivers. The next batch of about 300 are all recent graduates from vocational schools."

"How are the logistics and support?" Jiang Miao was quite concerned about this.

Lü Weibin looked helpless. "We’re already out of container homes. The next batch we ordered won’t be transported here for another half a month. Fortunately, spring has started so the weather isn’t too cold. We can make do with tents and sleeping bags for a while."

"I took a look just now. How is the construction of the base’s buildings coming along?"

Lü Weibin explained, "The banner government supports our development of 50 mu of land for real estate. They’re also helping us finalize the relevant paperwork, which should be done within three months. Also, I’ve already sent people to find a construction contractor. It’ll likely be a local company."

"That’s fine. As long as the quality is guaranteed, it’s enough to have the buildings ready before winter."

Jiang Miao’s timeline wasn’t too rushed. The employee housing complex for Hailufeng Real Estate Development Company was to be a standard design: nine stories with two elevators and four apartments per floor. And considering the area was vast and sparsely populated, he decided to skip the underground parking garage. They could just build some sheet-metal carports later.

If the paperwork came through in three months, construction would start in early June.

Half a month to lay the foundation, 10 to 13 days to build one floor. For nine floors, that’s 90 to 108 days, meaning they could top out around mid-September. Simple interior finishing would take two months, so it would be done around mid-November, and the employees could move in.

The project was planned for a total of 1,350 apartments. To ensure employees had a place to live before winter, they could concentrate the construction workers on finishing a portion of the apartments first.

After all, the entire Monan Branch would have roughly nine hundred to one thousand people, so just two hundred apartments would be sufficient. Besides, some employees would go home for vacation during the winter.

However, the construction crews leveling the land wouldn’t stop work in the winter. Unless there was heavy snow, there was no need to stop.

This was because sandy land in winter wasn’t like grassland or farmland. In winter, the sand’s mobility just decreased; it didn’t turn into hard, frozen earth. Therefore, leveling operations could still continue.

Aside from stopping for heavy snow or the Spring Festival holiday, they could work for the rest of the time.

That’s why it was essential to have apartments ready for the employees who would be spending the winter here. After all, the container homes, hot in the summer and cold in the winter, would likely be unbearable in the dead of winter.