Thousands of volunteers from all walks of life continued to flock to donation centers in southern Taiwan yesterday seeking to offer to help with relief work.
More help is needed, however, local governments said yesterday.
Hundreds of volunteers gathered outside the Tainan County Government building for a third day to help collect, separate and distribute donated goods to flood victims.
Seventy-three-year-old Chiu Hsing-kuei (邱新桂) said she felt compelled to help because she was once a recipient of others’ kindness when her house collapsed during the 921 Earthquake in 1999.
Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) said the flooding in the county was subsiding gradually. Many roads have been cleared and were now accessible and running water had also been made available to many residents, he said, adding that currently the county has received enough goods, but is still in dire need of more volunteers with four-wheel-drive vehicles to transport the goods into affected areas and to township halls.
More than 600 volunteers showed up outside the Kaohsiung City Government building to organize the donated goods, ranging from clothes, water, instant noodles, flashlights, bedding, medical supplies and household cleaning items.
At least 200 volunteers were also sent to badly battered areas, such as Liukeui Township (六龜鄉), to deliver food and supplies, Kaoshiung City Social Affairs Bureau Deputy Director Huang Chao-huan (黃招換) said.
Thousands of volunteers also joined the clean-up effort by sweeping the muddy streets of Chishan Township. Huang said more volunteers and drivers with high-capacity vehicles were still needed.
Local non-governmental organizations, such as the Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation, dispatched more than 1,500 workers to provide 200,000 hot meals and blankets to flood victims.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) also mobilized teams to help in the clean-up process.
Many Internet users from social networking sites, such as Plurk and the Bulletin Board System, have also organized their own teams of volunteers.
Some of the volunteers, however, said although they were eager to help, much of their time was spent standing around.
A 17-year-old high school student from Taichung City nicknamed Mountain (小山), who traveled to Tainan County with the intent to help, described the volunteer scene as “chaotic” and said more direction was needed so as to maximize the effort.
The DPP, World Vision and the Red Cross said volunteers can go to their Web sites to find ways to help with the clean-up effort.
Currently, donation centers in Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Tainan, Nantou and Chiayi are requesting more cleaning supplies, such as disinfectant and antiseptic.
Animal Rescue Team Taiwan said it had collected enough dog and cat food and medical supplies for kennels that need a helping hand.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS