The Executive Yuan has approved a compensation plan for the families of people killed in the Freeway No. 3 landslide last year, Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said yesterday.
“Whether or not the accident is attributable to human error, the government is still responsible to the people,” Mao said.
“We have already decided to apply the State Compensation Act (國家賠償法) in our initial review of the case,” he said.
Mao cited Article 3 of the act, which mandates that the state should be liable for damage to any person’s life, body or property resulting from a defect in the installation or management of any government-owned public facility.
“Even though there might not be any personnel error, the facility has damaged lives and property,” Mao said. “We then must compensate [the victims’ families].”
Meanwhile, the National Freeway Bureau said that victims’ families could receive compensation by the end of this month, adding that it must complete several administrative procedures first.
However, Mao refused to say how much compensation would be paid, citing a need to protect the families, although he said the ministry had negotiated with the family members.
Mao had been scheduled to answer questions from the lawmakers on the Transportation Committee about an amendment to the Act Governing the Punishment of Violation of Road Traffic Regulations (道路交通管理處罰條例), but he ended up being attacked by legislators demanding officials found responsible for the accident be severely punished.
Mao told the committee that the ministry had asked a group of experts to investigate the incident, and the experts said the ministry needed to review the standards for freeway construction and maintenance.
Freeway officials had followed the necessary standards in executing the project, Mao said, which made it difficult to single out specific individuals for blame.
However, National Freeway Bureau Director-General Tseng Dar-jen (曾大仁) said that six bureau officials had received demerits or warnings after the accident.
They were punished for failing to strictly follow the exact procedures to suspend the slope surveillance systems or filing incomplete surveillance records, Tseng said.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) said the ministry would resolve the issue of who should be punished for the incident within a week, as the Executive Yuan requested.
Asked if the ministry would expand its list of officials facing punishment, Yeh said the ministry would look at the facts and handle this matter rationally.
“Whoever is responsible will be punished, but we do not want to injure innocent persons,” Yeh said.
Meanwhile, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) was quoted by Government Information Office Deputy Minister Hsu Chiu-huang (許秋煌) as telling the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday that the ministry should humbly make a self-criticism in accordance with the investigation by the Control Yuan.
The government watchdog censured the ministry for negligence of duty over the landslide.
The ministry must look into the responsibility of officials and determine suitable punishment for them, Wu said.
“There are still many other sections of Freeway No. 3 and other highways located on dip slopes. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications must conduct thorough inspections of the sites and present measures to enhance maintenance next week,” Hsu quoted Wu as saying.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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