The political drama that began earlier this week continued yesterday as Sanchung mayor Lee Chien-lung (李乾龍) refuted media claims that the Sanchung city government was to blame for the flooding in the wake of Typhoon Aere on Tuesday.
The flooding, which immersed one-third of Sanchung City in over 30cm of water Tuesday and Wednesday, may have been the fault of city officials, as workers began pumping out the water until nine hours after the typhoon began, an unnamed official said in Chinese-language newspapers yesterday.
Responding to the reports, Lee held a press conference yesterday morning where he produced documentation showing that the pumps had been working on schedule.
The pumps at the Tung-an pumping station where floodwaters flowed in began working at 3pm on Tuesday Aug. 24, as soon as the water level of the Tamshui River began to rise, the records indicated.
At the press conference, Lee also fielded a call from Chang Chi-teh (常岐德), director of the city's Department of Rapid Transit Systems, in which Chang apologized for the misunderstanding and denied that any department official had ever said such a thing.
The incident is the second conflict the mayor has had with the department following his clash with officials there Friday.
On Friday, Lee angrily refused apologies from MRT contractors and transit officials after indications Wednesday that the flooding may have been caused by the faulty installation of a drainage system conduit box at MRT construction site near the Tung-an pumping station where the floodwaters gathered.
At the Friday press conference, the contractors responsible for MRT construction sites publicly apologized for the mistakes and offered to give NT$5,000 per household in condolence money to flood victims. In response, Lee, saying that the apology was too late, refused the money and stormed off in the middle of the press conference. A total of 31 people died as a result of Typhoon Aere.
The conflict underscored the difficulty in revealing who was to blame for the tragedy and which government body would pay for compensation and clean-up.
While Sanchung City and Taipei City councils have been laying heavy criticism on MRT contractors, several experts have come out and said that the contractors may not be at fault, since the water retaining walls could have been broken by falling rocks and debris as the result of the typhoon.
Chang also said yesterday he was not convinced that the contractors were exempt from responsibility in the accident.
The conduit box was improperly installed and workers did not follow approved blueprints in building the water retaining walls, Chang said. Aside from other possible causes, there were flaws in construction and contractors should take responsibility and pay reparations, he added.
During his first visit to Sanchung since the typhoon, Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday the Taipei City government's transit department was willing to take responsibility for its mistakes if it is found to be at fault in a forthcoming investigation.
During the trip in which Ma spoke to flood victims, he was greeted by Lee, who reiterated his complaints about the false water pump allegations.
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