Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) yesterday demanded to see by tomorrow the suggestions of the Ministry of the Interior and the National Science Council on revising evacuation rules and other regulations concerning disaster preparation.
The ministry and council were told to present their reports within two days, Executive Yuan Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said.
Su said Liu gave the order at a workshop ahead of a meeting of the Post-Typhoon Morakot Reconstruction Committee on Sunday.
Among the procedures under review is the non-mandatory evacuation system.
The system is detailed in Article 24 of the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act (災害防救法), which stipulates that local governments and townships or village offices should persuade or instruct people to evacuate high-risk areas to prevent loss of life or property in natural disasters.
The act does not impose penalties, however, for non-compliance.
To implement the act, the Council of Agriculture (COA) drew up regulations under which local authorities are entitled to evict residents areas put on “red alert” — the highest alert level — for mudslides.
When a red alert is issued by the Water and Soil Conservation Bureau, the bureau informs local volunteer contacts and local authorities.
However, the evacuation order was not followed and the not all areas hit by mudslides were issued “red alerts.”
Siaolin Village (小林) in Jiasian Township (甲仙), Kaohsiung County, was a case in point, as only five households fell within the zone designated for evacuation, but more than 390 homes were buried by mudslides.
Vice Minister of the Interior Lin Join-sane (林中森) said the role of the central government in evacuations and resettling those displaced by disasters would be reviewed.
The head of the ministry’s Social Affairs Department, Tseng Chung-ming (曾中明) was at first evasive when asked when the report would be done, but then promised to finish it within a week.
Separately, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday defended his decision not to declare a state of emergency after criticism by a survivor of Morakot in Kaohsiung.
Continuing his “apology tour” in Kaohsiung County yesterday, Ma told survivors in Taoyuan Township (桃源) staying at a temporary shelter at the Military Academy in Fongshan (鳳山) that he was sorry he had come so late.
He promised to assist the residents’ with finding employment and resuming schooling.
Liu Hsing-chien (劉行健), secretary general of the Cinhe Village (勤和) Self-Help Association, told Ma: “I must say with a heavy heart that you were very wrong” not to declare a state of emergency. “Your decision leaves us living in panic.”
In his defense, Ma said things had changed since the government’s response to the 921 Earthquake.
“I chose not to issue an emergency decree not because I am doctrinaire or because I don’t know how to be a president. I do,” he said. “It is because I knew such a move was unnecessary because relief efforts are clearly covered by an existing law.”
Another resident said the township would request compensation from the central government for its losses. Others urged the government to make public an evaluation report on the disaster areas as soon as possible so they could know whether they would be able to return home.
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