The anniversary of the 921 earthquake coincides with the Mid-autumn Festival this year. I believe people affected by the 1999 earthquake and now struggling to rebuild their lives must be feeling sorrow as they recall the festival three years ago. Comparing the government's attitude toward post-quake reconstruction with its attitude toward financial reconstruction efforts, earthquake victims must be asking themselves: "Both are reconstruction projects, why the big difference?"
Last month the Executive Yuan mobilized government agencies and launched a campaign of inspections of quake-affected areas by officials -- we might call it "pedestrian" propaganda -- that generated media reports about "successful reconstruction." But such reports can't hide reality. To find out about the snail's pace of reconstruction, one need only look at the large amount of information that the 921 Earthquake Post-Disaster Recovery Commission has put on the Internet.
Claims have been made at public hearings that 98 percent of the reconstruction projects have been contracted to builders. But how about the schools? Three schools have yet to have contracts awarded to builders. Reconstruction has yet to be completed at 42 schools. In other words, students at 14.3 percent of the schools have spent the past three years in make-shift classrooms.
As for residential buildings, the commission has put out impressive figures showing that almost 60 percent of all collapsed houses are "under reconstruction" based on the number of households that have applied for construction permits. But how many of them have actually seen construction begin? The commission's figures show only 8,000 households have applied for housing loans from the Central Bank, which drastically lowers the proportion to 15.8 percent. Even if we add another 8,000 or so households that applied for loans for new house purchases, the total still makes for less than one-third of all collapsed houses. This is the real state of reconstruction work.
Construction permits have been awarded for fewer than 1,400 out of the 12,000 or so households who want their apartments or condominiums repaired. Only 197 households have seen the construction completed and applied for housing-use permits -- or less than 2 percent.
Could it be worse than that? Yes. The development of 19 new communities has been in the plans to accommodate 2,200 house-holds. Design work has been completed for just 200 households but construction has not yet begun. Of the 2,000 house-holds in farming villages, 692, or one-third, have been rebuilt or are being rebuilt. Of the 1,167 households to be rebuilt in Aboriginal villages, land-use applications and construction have been completed for 408, just a little more than one-third.
This is the real situation in the disaster areas that has been covered up by the government's propaganda. Facing such results, officials can perhaps use a sensational slogan to avoid the political pressure to take responsibility. But the pain in the hearts of disaster victims is increasing by the day.
A report in a recent issue of the Chinese edition of Scientific American said that 8 percent of people living in quake-affected areas are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders and 10 percent are suffering from serious depression. In the light of high suicide rates in the quake-affected areas and the number of suicide threats over the government's policies on demolishing prefab houses, one wonders whether government officials have hearts of stone.
We can set up a NT$1.05 trillion fund for wiping the backsides of banks that indiscriminately grant loans to unscrupulous companies -- including construction companies responsible for collapsed houses and related deaths -- while sitting back and watching a situation whereby less than half of the NT$100 billion in housing loans has been used due to the sluggish pace of reconstruction work.
Perhaps lashing out at the government for having no serious interest in reconstruction or no compassion for disaster victims will not yield any results. I only hope that the appropriate officials will notice that the economic problems brought by the earthquake -- deaths, collapsed houses and frustrated families -- can aggravate or prolong post-traumatic stress disorders. Only with government assistance and support from family and friends can these people recover quickly.
I also hope the victims will hear some genuine good news about reconstruction from government officials during this year's Mid-autumn Festival.
Su Wei-shuo is a former chief executive of the 921 Earthquake Disaster Victims' Coalition.
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