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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