Lu unveils 921 quake memorial

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday presided over the dedication ceremony a memorial in Nantou County for victims of last year's 921 Earthquake.

The 921 Earthquake Monument, made from debris from the tremor, is the first memorial dedicated to quake victims.

The ceremony was jointly presided by Lu and several of the monument's promoters. This coming Thursday, Sept. 21, marks the first anniversary of the catastrophic quake. The memorial, located in Nantou City's Jenshou Park (仁壽公園), is built with scattered pieces, including bricks, tiles, and steel bars recovered from some of the numerous houses destroyed in the 7.3-magnitude quake.

Addressing a crowd of quake survivors and volunteers who had helped build the monument, Lu said that although the earthquake was a natural disaster, quake-inflicted damage and casualties are also attributable to human error and negligence.

"People should also be held responsible for quake havoc. In the future, we should devote even more energy to water and soil conservation. To protect ourselves from disasters in the 21st century, we should do our utmost to mend all flaws and blunders committed during this century," Lu urged.

Lu also called on local people to do some soul-searching and learn lessons from the incident, the island's worst disaster in a century.

"We should no longer play the `blame game' -- pointing the finger of blame at either the old or the new government. We should shed all prejudices, open our mind and join hands to complete various post-quake reconstruction projects," Lu said, adding that she earnestly hopes that the disaster zones will emerge from the rubble with "a new face and vitality" by the second anniversary.

Nantou and Taichung counties were among the hardest hit areas during the 921 earthquake, which claimed some 2,400 lives, injured thousands more and destroyed numerous homes and public facilities.

Slow progress in reconstruction has frustrated and angered many quake survivors, who staged an overnight sit-in near the Taiwan Provincial Government in Nantou County's Chunghsing New Village (中興新村) over the weekend.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) made a public apology at his fourth post-inaugural press conference Saturday for letting down the quake survivors. He promised to speed up rehabilitation work and also announced new pump-priming projects to help revitalize the economies of the quake-stricken areas and help the survivors rebuild their lives and careers.