President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was met with complaints and heckling from typhoon victims yesterday as he visited Baolai Village (寶來), one of the hardest-hit areas in Kaohsiung County, for the first time since Typhoon Morakot wreaked havoc in southern Taiwan two weeks ago.
With the village unreachable by ground transport, Ma arrived in Liouguei Township (六龜) by helicopter. As soon as villagers spotted Ma, they began approaching him with complaints, saying “no one cares about us.”
“It has been days and our family members’ remains have still not been found,” one villager said. “There are not enough excavators, so we have to dig by hand. Please help us, Mr President!”
PHOTO: YANG CHIN-CHENG, TAIPEI TIMES
“Our homes were buried by the mudslide, and an excavator came and dug for a day and left,” another villager said. “Everything is gone. We might as well all be dead.”
In response to criticism from villagers that Ma’s visit came too late, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said the president had delayed visiting the disaster area to avoid interfering with the rescue effort.
Ma, whose popularity has plummeted amid widespread criticism of the government’s response to the disaster, began visiting affected areas in the last few days as rescue work winds down and the nation prepares for post-disaster reconstruction, Wang said.
Ma did not visit the hardest-hit areas until 12 days after the typhoon struck. He visited Siaolin Village (小林) on Wednesday and the Sinkai Community (新開部落) on Thursday.
Ma yesterday also visited Namasiya Township (那瑪夏), where about 600 residents remain. Others have been evacuated to Cishan Township (旗山).
Roads to the village were still being repaired, and they had neither electricity nor water supplies, residents told Ma.
The president shook hands with residents and promised to speed up rescue and relief efforts.
Ma then visited Taoyuan Township (桃源) for about an hour before heading to the military command center at Cishan Township. Ma and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) later presided over a disaster reconstruction meeting at the center and spent the night in the township.
Ma is scheduled to visit Siaolin Village again today and attend the erqi (二七), a traditional rite held on the 14th day after a person’s death.
Earlier yesterday in Taipei, while meeting with US Representative Howard Berman at the Presidential Office, Ma thanked the US for assisting rescue efforts by providing helicopters earlier this week to help lift engineering vehicles to hard-hit villages.
Meanwhile, Wang yesterday dismissed speculation that Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (台灣高鐵) chief executive officer Ou Chin-der (歐晉德), a former Ma aide, would take over as Executive Yuan secretary-general after Hsueh Hsiang-chuan (薛香川) tendered his resignation.
Hsueh had been criticized for dining with his family at a five-star hotel while Typhoon Morakot ravaged the south.
When asked by reporters if Ma would keep Liu as premier, Wang said Ma did not plan to replace Liu during the upcoming Cabinet reshuffle.
Lawmakers across party lines yesterday decided to hold a provisional session next week to deliberate on a special statute for post-Morakot reconstruction that would facilitate recovery efforts.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said it would present a draft proposal at the three-day session from Tuesday to Thursday to be discussed together with the Executive Yuan’s proposal, which capped the reconstruction budget at NT$100 billion (US$ 3.03 billion).
DPP caucus whip Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) said his party’s version would include short-term subsidies for losses in agriculture, as the subsidy earmarked by the Executive Yuan for this purpose would be inadequate to cover even farmers’ losses, not to mention medium and long-term reconstruction.
“For example, an orchid farmer who owns about a hectare of land may have lost NT$30 million in the flooding, but he or she would receive just NT$60,000 from the government’s subsidy program. Compensation should be based on farmers’ actual losses,” he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS