Greater Kaohsiung councilors traded barbs yesterday over the series of deadly explosions in the city on July 31 and Aug. 1, with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) councilors blaming city government officials, while Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilors faulted LCY Chemicals Corp.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) was scheduled to brief the council yesterday and today on her administration’s plans for the rest of the year.
Chen had prepared a 34-page report for the city council — about 55 percent of which was devoted to reports on the gas pipeline explosions.
Photo: CNA
In response to the criticism, Chen bowed and apologized to the council and the public. She said she accepts all criticisms about the government’s handling of the rescue missions and post-disaster work, adding that Kaohsiung residents should be the ones to determine if she stays or goes.
During the question-and-answer session, KMT councilors said that the city government was “completely disorganized” and failed to use the critical three hours after the explosions to deal with the crisis, with city officials busy passing the buck afterward.
They further accused the city government of only caring about building beautiful parks and ignoring the construction of critical infrastructure below ground.
Photo: Wang Jung-hsiang, Taipei Times
Four city department chiefs stepped down over the incident, but the KMT councilors said that the heads of the city’s fire, labor and environmental protection departments as well as well as Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) should be held accountable instead.
DPP councilors, on the other hand, said that the gas explosions — which killed 30 people and injured 310 others — were caused by LCY Chemical.
They said that problems with the gas pipelines date back 50 years to the KMT government’s rule and cannot be solved in the short term.
They said the city government did all it could to rescue victims, adding that it was difficult to identify the source of the propene leak within a few hours.
The DPP councilors also called for the relocation of state-run CPC Corp, Taiwan’s headquarters from Taipei to southern Taiwan, where it has most of its facilities.
As for a government proposal to build a specific zone for petrochemical plants, the DPP councilors said that the city government should ascertain first whether residents should be relocated before starting construction for the zone.
Outside the meeting venue, about 80 Kaohsiung residents protested over what they said was unfair distribution of relief funds.
Some also said that the borough chiefs in charge of giving out relief funds did not thoroughly enforce the rules stipulated by the city government.
About 40 other residents also showed up at the council to give their support to the city government.
Kaohsiung Council Speaker Hsu Kun-yuan (許崑源) listened to petitions from the victims.
He said that he does not rule out the possibility of suing the city government for negligence and homicide.
He added that he would assist the victims of the gas explosion in seeking compensation from the authorities.
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