Two prefabricated houses in a batch donated by Beijing in the wake of Typhoon Morakot were erected in an open area in Pingtung County yesterday to test for hazardous content.
A group of specialists from the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) went to Pingtung to check the indoor air quality in the two prefab houses erected in Jiadong Township (佳冬), the agency said.
Based on concerns that the first 100 prefabricated houses donated by China might contain high levels of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, EPA officials said that the materials would be tested and the results publicized tomorrow.
PHOTO: KUO CHIN-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES
Ten containers of prefab housing materials arrived in Kaohsiung Harbor on Tuesday and were transported directly to Jiadong as part of aid to victims of Typhoon Morakot, which triggered the worst flooding in the country in half a century.
The death toll from the storm rose to 141 as of noon yesterday. Another 440 remained unaccounted for and 45 were reported injured.
Jiadong was one of the areas in southern Taiwan hardest hit by the storm.
“All 100 prefab houses will be erected if the first two prove safe for habitation,” township chief Lai Hsien-ho (賴憲和) said.
The comment was an about-face by Lai, who said two days ago that the townspeople were concerned about the safety of the units, in light of reports that the materials contained high levels of formaldehyde. He said the townspeople had therefore said they would not occupy the houses.
Lai said yesterday his office had asked Rotary International Taiwan to donate another 150 prefab houses.
Even if the 100 units from China were all erected, Jiadong will still be 50 houses short, he said.
He said about 300 families in the township were rendered homeless by the storm.
He added that his office had been negotiating with the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp for about 7 or 8 hectares of land on which to erect the prefab houses for the flood victims.
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