Our society is filled with both compassion and vigor. I am touched by the Taiwanese people's devotion and contributions to the relief work and reconstruction projects after the 921 quake. I have also been touched by the jubilant energy of the Taiwanese people as evidenced by the great efforts made by many entrepreneurs in advanced research and systematic labor division. These efforts have made Taiwan-made products highly competitive in the global market. However, many improvements are still needed in Taiwan in many areas of life.
In a series of seminars held by the China Times Foundation
We have seen these changes taking place in Taiwan's society in its economic activities, environmental protection and quake relief work.
Illustration: By Yu Sha
After the 921 quake, many apartments not located on faultlines collapsed. From the on-going investigations into several such cases, it appears that many of the documents for contruction projects were from illegal building companies that had "borrowed" construction licenses from legal companies in order to win bids. The legal companies listed on the government documents had never participated in the construction projects at all.
The collapsed apartments are just the tip of the iceberg. Even the quality control documents issued by the government are not a reliable guarantee of safety, because it is difficult for buyers to verify their credibility. For ordinary people, buying a house usually takes a lifetime of saving and hard work -- but there is no guarantee for their security or freedom from fear.
What kind of assistance does our society offer to survivors after disasters? Compared with the survivors of the Lincoln Mansion tragedy, 921 quake victims have been pretty lucky. Even so, reconstruction efforts are in a sorry state. Of the more than NT$100 billion available for "reconstruction loans," only 15 percent was approved as of late April. Most of the loans approved so far are for the purchases of new homes; the percentage of those for rebuilding the original house is pretty small.
Mudslides expose old faults
While the government has been slow and inefficient in the allocation of the loans, quake survivors have also had problems accessing the funds. A survey conducted in February and March of those whose houses had "collapsed" or "half-collapsed" found that 47 percent had either never heard of the loans or did not know how to apply for them.
Of the 64 percent who knew about the loans, eight out of 10 had not applied because they had not reached an agreement with the government on the documents and qualifications needed to receive the money. Another 26 percent who knew about the money did not try to apply because they thought they wouldn't get a loan.
Mudslides are another serious problem in quake-stricken areas. Mudslides occurred in more than 2,300 places in central Taiwan after the quake. Up to 370 rivers were found likely to trigger mudslides after heavy rains, put-ting 35 villages in grave danger.
However, mudslides can't be seen as simply a destructive aftermath of the quake. They have been an island-wide nightmare for a long time. An investigation by the Council of Agriculture last year found that 15,000 hectares of land had collapsed in mudslides -- before the quake. At the China Times seminar, the commissioner of Nantou County said he can't sleep during heavy rains because he is too worried about possible mudslides.
Human negligence has precipitated these problems and mudslides have exposed the damage wrought by human activities to mother nature. I cannot help feeling sorry for the people affected by the disasters.
That's not the end of our troubles. While Taiwan's mountainous areas are constantly threatened by mudslides, industrial waste endangers people elsewhere. According to media estimates, at least 1.5 million metric tonnes of toxic industrial waste are produced every year and only about one-third of it is properly treated.
In the past, illegal gravel miners working near rivers allegedly "rented" their sites to factories looking for waste-dumping areas (including toxic waste). Similar operations were carried out on the land as well. People dig holes on their land and sell them to factories needing places to bury their waste.
We have no idea just how serious the situation really is and comprehensive investigations are needed to discover the truth. Environmental Protection Administration statistics show there are at least 160 dump sites island-wide where waste from unknown sources has been buried. Many of them are ticking time-bombs that could explode at any time.
Although unethical attitudes may partly account for these problems, the failure of the system is a more important factor.
"System" is a general term for the combination of explicit and implicit rules. These rules constitute an incentive system and to some extent influence the development of people's behavior. And just as a prestigious economist once said, systemic evolution determines prosperity or stagnancy -- the future of a society.
In need of urgent repairs
If there is some thing wrong with the current system, people's behavior will not follow the right track. If fine, law-abiding construction companies cannot survive under the current system while their illegal competitors can expand their business, if honest construction inspectors are not encouraged while their illegal counterparts receive no punishment, how can we improve construction quality?
If the social cost of developing mountain slope areas cannot be reflected in private costs, how can we solve the problem of mudslides? If manufacturers who process their toxic waste properly are forced out of the market due to extra costs, how can we reduce the number of dangerous illegal waste dump sites?
Improving the current system is an urgent task. But many changes will not happen if we expect the official system and bureaucratic institutions to take the initiative. The more rigid the official system is, the less the government can address problems on its own initiative.
As a result, it is essential for the public, the media and welfare groups to make continuous efforts in publicizing different issues, revealing the truth, and keeping track of their development.
This is the indispensable source of momentum in a modern civil society. Without it, the structural rigidness of the system will deteriorate into a cancer that will expand and grow until it consumes the foundation of a healthy society -- fairness and justice.
Now it is time for us to act, before it is too late.
Chu Yun-peng is a research fellow at the Sun Yat-sen Institute for Social Science and Philosophy.
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