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Ma calls on Taipei County to speed up anti-flood measures

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday expressed dissatisfaction with the Taipei County Government over a delayed flood prevention project during an inspection of the construction and asked Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) to present a comprehensive proposal to combat flooding in the county soon.

After Tropical Storm Kalmaegi and Typhoon Fung-wong caused severe flooding last month and sparked criticism of inadequate flood prevention measures across the country, Ma, accompanied by Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) and several other Cabinet members, inspected a stalled flood prevention project at Taliaokeng River (塔寮坑溪) in Sindian (新店), Taipei County, and were briefed on the county’s flood prevention plans yesterday.

Chou and Taipei County Deputy Commissioner Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源) acknowledged that flood prevention work on the river was inadequate, but blamed the problem on former commissioner Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and the Water Resources Agency, which they said had failed to draw up a comprehensive plan.

“We are carrying out the old flood prevention project as drafted by Su Tseng-chang’s administration,” Chou said.

The flood prevention project for the river was drafted and approved during Su’s administration in 2005 with a budget of NT$4.8 billion (US$150 million). Chou has requested an increased budget of NT$14.9 billion to expand the scope of the project.

Ma said he supported the county government’s plans to expand the project, but questioned the need to stop the construction work in the meantime.

“I don’t see why we need to halt the construction until the new project [plan] comes. I need the Taipei County Government to present its new plan in a month,” Ma said.

Ma also called on the Executive Yuan and the Water Resources Agency to re-examine flood prevention projects countrywide.

In response, Lee questioned the effectiveness of the government’s flood prevention efforts and suggested that the government should not spend money on building pump stations and dikes in parts of the south, including Yunlin, Chiayi and Nantou counties, as some areas have been sinking over the years.

The government should solve this problem before pouring money into flood prevention works, Lee said.

The Ma administration has come under fire following deadly flooding and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Kalmaegi. In response, Liu has promised to spend NT$500 billion to expropriate riverside land to dredge rivers.
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