Dozens of firefighters yesterday rallied outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei to protest against Premier William Lai’s (賴清德) plan to revoke a decision to transfer the responsibilities for capturing animals to the Council of Agriculture.
Lai has said fire departments are the most reliable agencies to handle the responsibilities.
The protesters performed a skit depicting the difficulties involved in capturing snakes, bees and dangerous animals, showing that they are often injured when capturing animals, or sometimes killed.
The National Association for Firefighters’ Rights said firefighters are not trained in animal, reptile or insect control and they have no professional tools to perform such tasks, adding that injuries sustained during such incidents compromise their firefighting abilities.
The association has for months campaigned for animal capture responsibilities to be transferred to the council.
In January, when former premier Lin Chuan (林全) led the Cabinet, it decided that the responsibility should fall to the council.
However, Lai on Friday last week told lawmakers that the decision had not been “planned thoroughly,” provoking a heated response from firefighters.
Association vice president Yu Tzung-han (余宗翰) demanded an apology from Lai, who said that firefighters were performing “charitable deeds” with animal capture, which Yu said downplays the risks of the job.
Protesters also went to the Control Yuan to ask it to issue a correction order to the Executive Yuan, the council and the National Fire Agency for failing to protect firefighters’ rights.
Lai said he was not being disrespectful of firefighters, but that the proposed transfer would reduce the government’s capacity to capture animals or other creatures.
The council would have to outsource the work to private businesses because of under-staffing, Li said.
While the greatest need for animal capture is usually in rural areas, potential contractors are mostly located in urban areas and they also cannot provide round-the-clock service, Lai added.
“Tainan is hit by typhoons every year, and while rescue and disaster-relief missions belong to firefighters, the military also helps out. They do not say ‘the military is prepared for war and disaster relief is not my job.’ The military does not push away responsibility if the public needs them,” he said.
“I understand the association members’ feelings. I have asked the Cabinet to evaluate the proposal and put forward measures to protect firefighters while capturing animals,” he said.
The Cabinet would soon announce its plans, Lai said.
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