Twelve days after Typhoon Morakot lashed the nation, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday visited Xiaolin Village (小林), Kaohsiung County — one of the hardest hit areas.
Ma was confronted by angry relatives and friends of the approximately 400 people who are believed to have died when the village was destroyed by mudslides.
An unidentified woman screamed in Ma’s face, saying a government construction project had contributed to the Xiaolin disaster by weakening the foundations of several surrounding mountains.
One man recalled comments Ma made to Britain’s ITN News in which he appeared to blame the victims for their own fate, saying they did not evacuate storm-affected areas quickly enough.
“Why are you coming here to see us only now?” the man asked in footage broadcast by several TV stations. “You keep blaming the disaster on us for not evacuating earlier. We did not receive any instruction to leave before the storm hit.”
Leading government officials in a deep bow, Ma apologized for visiting so late. After listening to grievances at a temple in Jiaxian Township (甲仙), the president promised to complete reconstruction of Xiaolin during his first term of office. The project would include establishing a reconstruction fund and possibly a memorial park or plinth, he said.
He also vowed to finish the assembly of prefabricated housing a month after a suitable location had been found. Until then, Ma said the families would receive a monthly subsidy from the county government, ranging from NT$6,000 to NT$10,000 for rent, adding that the central government had wired NT$1 billion (US$31 million) to the county treasury.
The government watchdog, the Control Yuan, plans to launch an investigation into the Water Resources Agency’s water diversion project, Ma said, adding that the Executive Yuan would also begin an inquest into the matter and the Kaohsiung District Court would conduct a judicial inquiry. Should the government be found responsible, Ma said national compensation would apply.
Ma also assured the survivors that the process of obtaining death certificates for their loved ones would be simplified.
As the typhoon season is not over, Ma urged victims’ families to evacuate should the county government deem it necessary in future.
Before he sat down with victims’ families, Ma paid respects to Chang Shun-fa (張順發) and Huang Mei-chih (黃鎂智) in Taichung City.
They were among the three crew members of a UH-1H helicopter that crashed last week in the Yila Valley in Wutai Township (霧台), Pingtung County, during relief operations.
Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), who also attended the event, said it would not solve the problem if Ma stepped down, but the government officials responsible should be replaced as soon as possible.
Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) said the government should listen to calls for a Cabinet reshuffle and deliver a satisfactory result, but the government’s overall performance was more important.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AP
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS