The government has given NT$480 million to Nantou County to help it recover from last week's typhoon, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Chang also instructed the local construction bureau to complete by tomorrow work on the new Kuohsing Bridge so the area's transportation links can be re-established.
Also yesterday, the Cabinet's reconstruction task force, headed by minister without portfolio Chen Chin-huang (
Chen said the Council of Agriculture had proposed at the meeting that gravel left over by mudslides be used in concrete in construction projects such as the east-west expressway in central Taiwan.
Chen said the Cabinet has worked out a way to accommodate for the law's inflexibility on the gravel matter.
"If the gravel is taken from the vicinity of typhoon-hit rivers, related water conservation regulations would be able to facilitate the cleanup and use of the gravel," he said. However, if the gravel is located elsewhere, the applications can be filed on a case-by-case basis."
Chen added that the gravel could also be listed and handled as waste in construction contracts if used as part of government reconstruction efforts.
To help farmers recover from their agricultural losses, the council yesterday promised to complete the distribution of government subsidies and low-interest loans to farmers by the end of this month.
At yesterday's meeting, the Ministry of the Interior said that prefabricated houses leftover from the 921 earthquake are being used for typhoon victims.
* The government has given NT$480 million to Nantou County for typhoon recovery.
* The Ministry of Education will appropriate NT$10 million to schools in Nantou County.
* The Council of Aboriginal affairs will give NT$50,000 in compensation per family of deceased aboriginal victims.
The Ministry of Education said that it plans to appropriate NT$10 million to 54 elementary and junior high schools in Nantou County that were seriously damaged.
After President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on Sunday said the government would provide typhoon victims interest-free loans to buy new homes, state-run Taiwan Sugar yesterday offered to sell its 38 vacant houses in Hualien's Fonglin township and Kuangfu township.
In addition, the Ministry of Finance has instructed banks to extend any outstanding loans from typhoon victims for another six-month period past their December due date.
The Council of Labor Affairs yesterday agreed to provide typhoon victims with part-time employment opportunities with a daily wage of NT$542.
Meanwhile, the Council of Aboriginal Affairs said that it would give NT$50,000 in compensation per family of deceased Aboriginal victims, along with a funeral subsidy of NT$15,000.
Aboriginal students -- from kindergartners to college students -- are entitled to receive grants of NT$10,000 to NT$40,000 per person for their studies.
Typhoon victims, moreover, are able to receive medical care regardless of whether they have health insurance.
If victims are unable to afford insurance premiums now, the health administration will grant loans to ensure that urgent medical needs are met.
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