During a recent inspection of reconstruction efforts in areas devastated by the 921 earthquake, President Chen Shui-bian (
The 921 earthquake didn't just cause topographical changes -- it triggered ecological ones as well. These changes influenced the livelihoods of local residents.
Especially in the mountainous areas of Taichung and Nantou counties, people's lifestyles and means of production are seriously restricted by environmental factors, even more so in the aftermath of such a devastating earthquake.
Additionally, residents of these areas suffer from long-term ecological destruction wrought by an economic growth model that operated at the expense of environmental exploitation. Overuse of land has caused mudslides and cave-ins, environmental changes which pose a serious threat to the lives and production systems of disaster area residents.
With this in mind, investigating and monitoring the environment would be conducive to making real progress in reconstruction. Presently, however, the environmental status is rarely seen to be an important factor in the current reconstruction effort. For example, although mudslides and cave-ins have been mapped out in some disaster areas, no further steps have been taken towards the issue of resettlement. Similarly, though the idea of tourism development has been raised, numerous issues regarding the environmental ramifications of tourism have been overlooked. These need to be brought out into the open and addressed.
As regards space allocation, industrial activities and societal composition are inextricably linked. When planning reconstruction and development, apart from basing operations on actual environmental conditions, it's particularly necessary to consider the survival and development of the area's residents. Future development is therefore dependant upon analyzing and understanding the current socio-economic situation.
Due to topographical factors, agriculture and tourism are the main production activities in Taichung and Nantou counties. Structural weaknesses within the agricultural sector and competition from foreign farm products have driven down agricultural incomes. And as most tourism resources are either state-owned or controlled by corporations, local residents can only derive fringe benefits from the industry. What's more, they must deal with with the negative by-products of tourism, such as garbage, environmental destruction, and so on. In this kind of situation, the idea proposed for reconstruction, namely making tourism a future instrument of economic regeneration, is clearly impractical. There's no way it can achieve the intended goal of bringing economic recovery to residents of disaster areas.
The 921 earthquake is approaching its first anniversary. Reconstruction of disaster areas can't wait another year. With disaster victims and Taiwanese in general awaiting in anxious anticipation, the government needs not only to spend money courageously, but also to adopt a suitable policy -- and display some dedication to boot. Without this, any amount of money invested will be like locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Yung-Jaan Lee is President of the Green Citizen Action Alliance (
Translated by Scudder Smith.
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