About one-third of the people forced from their homes by the Three Gorges Dam project have said they are not satisfied with the locations chosen by the authorities. About 300,000 residents of central and western China’s Chongqing municipality and Hubei province have been resettled, Xinhua reported. The figure will rise to 1.13 million by 2009 when the world’s largest hydro-electric project is due to be completed. Xinhua quoted senior officials in charge of the Three Gorges resettlement exercise as saying the move is "progressing smoothly", people on the move are in a "stable mood", and that all resettlement is being carried out voluntarily. But the officials admitted it had been tremendously difficult to meet the demands of a million "resettlers", and that one-third were dissatisfied with the location chosen by the Government. Xinhua also said it was the people’s own decision where they resettled and that grassroots bureaus could adjust plans "within a reasonable range" to accommodate them. It quoted the case of farmer Zheng Yingzhi, 38, who had "a smile" on her face, after moving three times before settling down in Zhejiang’s Xiaoting village, located "near a port and with land suitable for growing citrus fruit". Usually, those being resettled had three choices: move to higher ground near their old homes; to somewhere else within the county; or elsewhere in the country. Those on the move were also being encouraged to contact relatives and friends anywhere in China and live with them if they so wished, Xinhua said. As next year’s deadline for the completion of phase two was fast approaching, officials have called for the relocation process to be speeded up. Kuqu city in Chongqing, which relocated 100,000 migrants last year, plans to move 103,000 this year, Xinhua said. Some money set aside for the Three Gorges Dam had been misused or embezzled by officials, Xinhua confirmed, with 41 cases identified last year. Fifty-six local cadres were either jailed or disciplined and 328 million yuan (HK$304 million) recovered.