Sat, Aug 18, 2007 - Page 1 News List

Typhoon disrupts transportation

GALE WARNING The Central Weather Bureau said that the entire nation will be covered by the storm today, which has heavy rain, a 250km radius and 184kph winds

By Shelley Shan and Mo Yan-chih  /  STAFF REPORTERS

The city's disaster prevention center said Taipei should get less rain than southern Taiwan, but residents in low-lying areas should still guard against flooding.

The Parking Management Office told car owners who park at riverbank parking lots to pay attention to typhoon information and move their vehicles before the water gates are closed.

The parking information hotline is 02-2759-0666 ext. 6401.

The transportation department said buses would run during the typhoon unless the average wind speed reached 88kph.

Meanwhile, the city government announced the postponement of the Taipei Dadaocheng Fireworks and Music Festival, which was scheduled for tomorrow, until further notice.

A Council of Agriculture official said agricultural losses in the wake of tropical storms Pabuk and Wutip had exceeded NT$420.69 million (US$12.75 million) as of Thursday, with damaged assets increasing by NT$100 million per day.

The official said that large freezers used by markets and farm associations had 4,586 tonnes of vegetables in storage, including 2,693 tonnes of rootstock and 1,518 tonnes of leafy vegetables.

Leafy vegetables have showed the most obvious price surge, while prices of rootstock vegetables have remained roughly stable, the official said.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Hsu Shao-ping (徐少萍) yesterday blamed the government for the serious flooding in the south, criticizing it for not making good use of the budget earmarked for a flood-control plan.

When inspecting the flooding in Kaohsiung County on Wednesday, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) said the previous boycott of the NT$80 billion flood-control plan had prevented the government from dredging the Meinong River (美濃溪).

The river's flooding in the wake of torrential rain caused severe damage.

Hsu dismissed Chang's accusation, saying the budget for dredging the river had been included in the government's annual budget instead of the eight-year flood-control plan.

In response, Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) said Hsu was trying to shirk the pan-blue camp's responsibility for delaying the plan in the legislature.

"The plan was drawn up in May 2005, but its budget didn't clear the legislature until June last year because of the pan-blue lawmakers boycott of the review," Wang said.

It's unreasonable to put all the blame on central government as it needs local governments' cooperation to carry out flood-prevention plans such as land expropriation, he said.

Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan and CNA

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