Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) yesterday said that the central government should not be in charge of declaring typhoon days, adding that local government officials know what measures work best in their areas.
Hochen made the statement at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee in Taipei, which was scheduled to review the budget submitted by the Central Weather Bureau for the 2017 fiscal year.
The issue of whether the central or local governments should be in charge of declaring typhoon days has been under the spotlight since Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德), Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) and Chiayi City Mayor Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) declared half a typhoon day during Typhoon Megi last month. Residents of the three cities were reported to have faced dangerous weather conditions when they were sent home in the afternoon.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Pao-ching (鄭寶清) said that local government officials often have a hard time deciding whether they should declare a typhoon day.
“It is possible that they declare a typhoon day, but people in their localities do not experience any bad weather. It is also possible that they are blamed if a typhoon comes and they fail to declare a typhoon day in time. Some county commissioners simply declare typhoon days because officials in neighboring counties have already done so and they fear being in the wrong if they do not follow suit. This has caused Taiwan’s competitiveness to decline,” he said.
The central government should be responsible for declaring typhoon days, as local government officials need to check the data provided by the Central Weather Bureau before making their decisions, Cheng said.
In cities or counties that do not meet the criteria for calling typhoon days, officials should be allowed to call days off in certain districts if there are extenuating circumstances, he said.
Hochen said people would choose to take days off during typhoons if given the choice, but that the right to declare a typhoon day should not fall on the shoulders of the central government.
“A typhoon day is not a holiday. It is for people to take refuge and take the necessary measures to protect themselves. The impact of typhoons varies from one place to another,” Hochen said. “In addition to wind speeds and rainfall, local government officials should take into consideration various factors affecting their localities, which would enable them to make a better judgement on whether declaring a typhoon day is necessary.”
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