A report posted on China's government web portal Sunday said authorities mapped out plans for four infrastructure projects and started a housing program.
The infrastructure projects include road construction, water supply and drainage on Yongxing Island, where the city government is seated, the report said.
Sansha City will be located in a disputed area in the West Philippine Sea where a 34-year-old Philippine town in Palawan province has claims, particularly the Pag-asa Islet.
The Spratly Islands and other islets in the West Philippine Sea are a subject of a territorial dispute by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
China had said Sansha City is to administer over 200 islets, sandbanks and reefs in Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands, but Kalayaan (Palawan) town asserted its authority over the area.
Kalayaan mayor Eugenio Bito-onon Jr. said Filipinos settled in the islands in 1978, whereas China is forming the government of its Sansha City there only now.
Sunday's report on the Chinese government web portal said the infrastructure plans also include seven roads with a total length of 5 km to be repaired or built.
Also, a desalinator that can process 1,000 cubic meters of seawater a day will be built on the island to ensure fresh water supply.
Other projects include the construction of inter-island transportation and a dock, as well as the development of Zhaoshu Island.
Sansha Mayor Xiao Jie on Saturday announced the beginning of a housing construction program with an investment of 18.7 million yuan ($2.97 million).
China set up Sansha officially on Yongxing Island last July 24.
Zhang Geng, executive vice mayor of Sansha, said the government has been working to build the island into a city of harmony between human and nature. -GMA News (September 30, 2012 8:28AM)
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