ZHENGZHOU, May 22 (Xinhua)
-- Prospective residents of a building
that is under construction in central
China's Henan Province will have
to wait to move in because of
some strange intruders at the
construction site -- swallows.
Nearly
1,000 swallows were found to have
nested at a construction site in
Longhu Township in the county-level
city of Xinzheng, which is located
in the provincial capital of
Zhengzhou.
Local officials decided
to suspend construction on Tuesday
until the fledglings are old enough
to fly.
"We are concerned
that our workers may hurt the
birds while working, as they are
not able to fly yet," said Yang
Weizeng, deputy chief of Xinzheng's
municipal forestry bureau.
Yang
said the swallows began nesting at
the site about a month ago,
when builders had just finished laying
the building's foundation.
The
manager of the construction company
responsible for the building said the
building is being used to resettle
nearby villagers. Although the construction
is already behind schedule, the local
government has managed to persuade the
company to postpone
construction.
A similar incident
occurred in the area last year,
when a group of birds nested in
a nearby construction site.
