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Better enforcement prevents fires

`Fires do not care what set of regulations applied when a building was constructed. New or amended regulations, therefore, should provide fire departments with the legal basis to demand that all buildings meet the new safety standards.'

The fire at the Eastern Science Park (東方科學園區) complex in Hsichih burned for 43 hours, resulting in huge financial losses. The damage caused by the fire quickly spread to the local stock market, as both the TAIEX index and the transaction volume of stock plunged. Meanwhile, politicians engaged in a war of words over the inferno. The fire high-lights three major problems in Taiwan's society: the establishment of, compliance with and enforcement of the rule of law.

For decades, the law was merely a tool of the government. Government policy was to keep the public uninformed or misinformed. People were taught simply to abide by the law. If they did not, they were punished and punishment served as a deterrent for potential criminals. As a result, the people of Taiwan "abide" by the law only out of their fear of punishment. How-ever, "complying" with the law is far more important. Compliance with the law ensures effective protection of people's property, rights, lives and safety.

Only when people appreciate what compliance with the law really means will they acknowledge the importance and legitimacy of the law and abide by it willingly.

A total of 8,000 people worked at the Eastern Science Park. It is crucial for such high-rises to have the proper fire-safety facilities, especially as a fire in such a building would be difficult for firemen to extinguish under any circumstances. Apart from installing proper fire-safety facilities, the ability to operate and maintain those facilities is no less important. The facilities should not be there just for the sake of passing the fire departments' safety tests.

According to Taipei County's fire department, the Hsichih complex failed to pass a fire safety test on Feb. 21 because its automatic sprinkler system was disabled. The management of the property was given one month to fix the sprinklers. The complex again failed to pass a test on March 6 for a lack of fire extinguishers, emergency lighting and exit signs, as well as having broken water pumps. The building's indoor thermometer and smoke detectors were not working either. Therefore, the government demanded immediate repair work to be carried out.

The fire department demanded that the management fix all these problems by April 6. The management, however, requested the deadline to be extended for one month and then requested a second extension. Surprisingly, the fire department agreed to postpone the follow-up safety test to early June.

Whenever a major problem with safety facilities is found in a building, its management should repair the problems immediately because of the human lives and property at stake.

Hoping to avoid punishment for violating the law, rather than trying to comply with the law, the management repeatedly requested the safety tests be postponed. The local fire department actually allowed the management to continue violating the law, although the department itself was clearly incapable of extinguishing fires in the high-rise complex.

Office buildings are categorized as Class B buildings (乙纇建築物). According to the fire prevention regulations, amended on Oct. 28, 1994, all Class B buildings over 15 stories high must install automatic sprinkler systems on all floors. As the Eastern Science Park obtained its construction permit in 1989, the building was built in compliance with the old regulations. The building therefore has no automatic sprinkler systems from the 10th floor down.

Such legal loopholes demonstrate the flaws in our legislative process. Fires do not care what set of regulations applied when a building was constructed. New or amended regulations, therefore, should provide fire departments with the legal basis to demand that all buildings meet the new safety standards. Otherwise, they would have to take the year 1994 as a watershed in their enforcement of the law, and leave the safety of buildings constructed under the old regulations to fate!

As it is, it is sheer good luck if a fire does not break out, and it is an expected "accident" if it does.

The enforcement of law is often negotiable and selective. According to the witnesses, the fire first broke out at a Buddhist shrine on the third floor in the complex's A-block. A branch of the French hypermarket Carrefour was also housed in the basement of the building in violation of the Company Law (公司法), the Construction Law (建築法), the Fire Prevention Regulations (消防法) and the Urban Development Law (都巿計劃法). In fact, only 119 out of the 468 companies housed in the complex's four blocks were legally registered.

Taiwan's infrastructure is fairly fragile. The collapse of one high-voltage electricity tower in Tainan was sufficient to cause an islandwide power blackout July 29, 1999. There are high-rise buildings like the Eastern Science Park all over the country. The government's and citizens' crisis awareness, however, is insufficient. Hence, natural and man-made disasters continue to occur.

Someone that violates a man-made law, is fined or put into jail. But when one violates the laws of nature, Mother Nature can strike back with fires, floods, disease and earthquakes. Hopefully, people can learn to strictly obey both the laws of men and of nature. At the same time, efforts must also be made to establish laws appropriately and to enforce them properly to reduce the possibility of disasters. Otherwise, Taiwan will become an island beset with dangers.

Lin Shan-tien is a law professor at National Taiwan University. Translated by Eddy Chang
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