An earthquake victims' association will organize a "camp-in" at Nantou County's Chung Hsing Community (夜宿南投中興新村) in September to protest the government's handling of post-quake reconstruction.
They will invite President Chen Shui-bian (
"We really hope they can come to understand our pain by camping with us," the group, 921 Earthquake Disaster Victims Coalition (
Although almost a year has passed since the quake, very little rebuilding has been carried out in the main disaster area, Taichung and Nantou counties. Over 300 survivors have attempted to commit suicide in the intervening period and 28 have succeeded.
After the earthquake, the Executive Yuan established two funds for reconstruction. The first, amounting to NT$3 billion, is comprised of contributions from the public. The second, totalling NT$100 billion was granted by the government.
The purpose of the former was to provide credit to poor victims for mortgage applications. The latter fund was to provide loan interest repayment grants for all victims with bank loans.
According to the coalition, however, such remedies have been ineffective.
"Up to now, only NT$20 billion has reached the pockets of victims. Most banks refuse us loans because we are regarded as a high-risk group with little collateral. The new government spends NT$300 billion boosting the property market and defending the interests of a few real estate developers but has ignored 500,000 earthquake victims," said Liu Chi Min (
Liu pointed out that recorded unemployment in the disaster area is 6 percent but, since many victims were farmers or were otherwise self-employed, the actual rate could well be "higher than 18 percent."
He said that the government should bypass banks and give money directly to victims.
"Some 53,000 apartments were totally destroyed in the 921 earthquake. Supposing that the cost per family of building a 35-ping home is about NT$1,600,000, then building houses for all families would cost a mere NT$85 billion. The new government has just followed the old policy of the KMT and done nothing to allocate money more effectively," Liu said.
The "camp-in" will begin at Chung Hsing Community on Sept. 16. Members of the public are welcome to participate. The 921 Earthquake Disaster Victims' Alliance can be contacted by telephone at (04) 4822533.
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