LHASA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- More than 390,000 farmers and herdsmen in more than 1,400 villages in the Tibet Autonomous Region, southwest China, are expected to have access to TV and radio programs this year with construction of more radio and TV relay facilities, a local official said.

    Zhang Chongyin, director of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Bureau of Radio, Film and Television, said that local farmers and herdsmen can listen to radio programs broadcast through five channels and watch TV programs through eight channels.

    By the end of last year, 83.7 percent of people in Tibet had had access to radio programs and 84.47 percent had access to TV programs.

    Tibet boasts a land space of more than 1.2 million square meters and has a population of 2.62 million, more than 80 percent of which are farmers and herdsmen living in remote areas.

    Zhang said, radio and TV programs have greatly enriched the lives of and bring scientific and technological knowledge to local people.

    China launched a project to enable all rural villages in the country to have access to radio and TV programs in 1998. The central and governments of various levels had invested 1.76 billion yuan (approximately 212 million US dollars) in the project, which enabled 117,000 villages, with a population of more than 70 million, to have access to radio and TV programs by the end of 2003.

    According to the State Development and Reform Commission, China still have more than 80 million people who do not have access to radio and TV programs. Most of these people live in remote areas in western and central parts of China. Enditem