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MORAKOT: THE AFTERMATH: Ma apologizes for slow relief efforts

“The government has experience dealing with natural disasters, but the disasters get increasingly serious each time.” — President Ma Ying-jeou

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday apologized for the government’s slow pace of rescue efforts, adding he would make the evacuation of residents in dangerous villages a priority in future rescue efforts.

“We could have done a better job and we could have done it faster. I am sorry that we did not do our job better and faster,” Ma said yesterday while visiting Nantou County.

Ma said bad weather hindered rescue missions after last weekend’s typhoon was followed by three days of torrential rain, which grounded helicopters.

During his visit in Nantou, Ma visited family members of volunteer firefighter Chang Jui-hsien (張瑞賢), who died on Friday during a rescue mission, and expressed his condolences.

Chang’s wife and son broke down and sobbed. The president also shed tears while consoling them. Fifty-three-year-old Chang died on Friday afternoon after falling into Choshui River (濁水溪) during a rescue mission in search of bodies of people who fell into the river after Provincial Highway No. 16, which runs along the river, collapsed last Sunday.

Ma also paid a visit to family members of three crewmembers who died on Tuesday when their rescue helicopter ferrying supplies crashed in the mountains of Pingtung County. The president promised to enhance aircraft equipment to ensure the safety of pilots and crewmembers.

In his weekly online video speech, Ma acknowledged that the scale of the damage brought by Typhoon Morakot was far more serious than expected and said the government should think about how humans can co-exist with the environment.

“The government has experience dealing with natural disasters, but the disasters get increasingly serious each time, making some experience useless. We must refresh our understanding of natural disasters,” he said in the video, which was taped during an inspection tour in Pingtung County on Wednesday.

Ma said the government would ask local governments to conduct disaster prevention drills before flood season and evacuate residents living in dangerous areas.

“People should not fight nature. So many problems would be solved if residents could be evacuated in time before floods or mudslides occur,” he said.

Ma lauded the media and various Internet networking systems for providing updates on the situation in disaster-hit areas and participating in the relief work, while urging the nation to join in rescue and reconstruction efforts.

At a separate setting yesterday, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said the government was “prompt in rescuing people” stranded by mudslides and floods as weather permitted after the typhoon.

He made the remarks while inspecting the disaster areas in ­Chiayi County.

Liu said the government did not delay the rescue and that the slow rescue work was mainly the result of weather conditions.

Saying that rescue work would not stop as long as the weather permits, Liu added the government had used all its personnel and machinery to rescue victims.

He said the government would “make up for delays in relief efforts from bad weather factors.”

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
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