Taipei City will give more power to district administrators to help them improve their ability to respond to future natural disasters, Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma's remarks came after he delivered a report to city councilors about city relief efforts in the wake of Typhoon Xangsane, which battered the nation on Nov. 1 and left 62 dead.
Although only one person died in Taipei, the city saw its worst flooding in three decades, especially in the flood-prone districts of Wenshan, Nankang and Neihu. Roughly 48,000 families were left without power, more than 21,000 families without phone services and more than 21,000 households without fresh water.
"District administrators will be made commanders in chief of the regional relief forces in future relief efforts, while the city government will play the role of supervisor and provide necessary assistance," Ma said.
To strengthen regional response and relief abilities, Ma said, the city is drawing up a plan to train district administrators, borough wardens and neighborhood chiefs on how to handle emergencies.
Ma made the announcement in response to recent criticism from city councilors and the public, who criticized Ma for attending to every relief detail personally instead of letting district administrators take charge.
While inspecting disaster areas, Ma expressed several times his personal displeasure with the performance of district administrators for their poor coordination and efforts in keeping residents informed.
New Party City Councilor Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊) came out and challenged Ma's argument, saying it was his lack of delegation skills that had slowed district administrators.
"How do you expect them to do a good job if they're not fully authorized?" Huang said
DPP City Councilor Yeh Hsin-yi (葉信義) said, "it's ironic that the Nankang District, one of the hardest hit areas, just completed an annual disaster response drill one week before Typhoon Xangsane struck, isn't it?"
DPP City Councilor Lee Chien-chang (
Meanwhile, city councilors criticized Ma's proposal of allocating NT$1 billion for reconstruction.
"I'm very curious to know why the Office of Maintenance Work under the Bureau of Reconstruction alone requests NT$400 million," Councilor Lee said.
"I call on the city government to closely review the proposal."
DPP City Councilor Chen Shu-hua (
"NT$1 billion is not a small amount. We'd really hate to see anyone take advantage of the incident to make a profit," she said.
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