Greater Kaohsiung residents and victims’ organizations yesterday vented their frustrations after Thursday’s indictments over the gas explosions on July 31 and Aug. 1 that killed 30 people.
LCY Chemical Corp, China General Terminal and Distribution Corp and low-ranking government officials bore the brunt of judicial prosecution on Thursday and critics said the judiciary seemed “only intent on punishing the small fry and is afraid of going after the big fish.”
In particular, residents and victims’ groups pointed to the roles and responsibilities played by CPC Corp, Taiwan, along with Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), a former Kaohsiung mayor, and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), as they were not indicted.
Many residents said they were angry because the judiciary had let CPC off the hook, despite glaring negligence by the state-run company, which they said was one of the main factors leading up to the explosions.
They said that CPC Corp was in charge of laying the underground pipelines in then-Kaohsiung City, along with the responsibility of maintaining and regularly inspecting the pipelines.
Thursday’s indictment by the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office said the main cause of the explosions was due to leaks in a section of an LCY Chemical-owned underground pipeline which carried propene, an industrial fuel.
Officials at LCY Chemical had said CPC Corp was responsible for maintenance and safety inspections of the pipelines, according to their contract.
The investigation found that CPC Corp had only carried out safety inspections twice in 23 years.
“There was nobody supervising the pipelines. This amounts to government policy killing people. Prosecutors only went after the small guys and dare not to touch the big officials,” Citizen of the Earth Taiwan director Lee Keng-cheng (李根政) said.
“I am very upset to hear there was no indictment against CPC officials. They are also responsible for the disaster,” said Lee Chun-kuei (李春桂), a borough warden whose husband, Chen Chin-fa (陳進發), was killed in the explosions.
“How can CPC escape with no charges against them? I feel CPC also took part in contributing to the disaster. They rented out the pipelines for use by LCY Chemical. Now they say the matter does not concern them, I cannot accept this from CPC,” Lee said.
Some residents and victims’ organizations were also angry that Wu and Chen were not indicted.
Wu was mayor in 1991 when the city approved the construction of underground culverts and pipelines.
Chen and some of her officials were blamed for mishandling the situation after workers were unable to pinpoint the gas leaks and failed to evacuate residents.
Additional reporting by Chang Hui-wen and Ke Yu-hao
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