The Ministry of the Interior announced recently that citizens who reject the authorities' warnings and hike in the mountains or fish at sea during the typhoon season would have to pay compensation if they are rescued.
Given that many citizens take risks during the typhoon season, which has cost related agencies a lot of money and many rescuers' lives, the ministry's National Fire Administration on Tuesday implemented the regulation as a measure to prevent people from taking risks during dangerous periods.
The administrative regulation is effective immediately.
The fire administration, which is the nation's rescue authority as well, explained that if citizens entered areas declared dangerous by the government without permission, they would risk a fine of between NT$50,000 and NT$250,000.
If citizens enter those dangerous areas and have to be rescued, they would have to pay the amount that the government had spent on rescuing them.
The measure states that the government would charge violators for rescue services within three months after they were rescued.
The bill will include overtime pay, insurance fees, transportation of related officials and rescuers dealing with the incidents and the expenditure for operating the vehicles and helicopters used to rescue them.
The fire administration, however, emphasized that incidents like the Yuanshen No. 2 (元勝二號) incident that took place off the port of Kaohsiung on Tuesday, would not be charged for anything, since the captain of the boat did not intend to take any risk.
Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) on Monday urged police to be more cautious in issuing hiking permits or to reject applications, for the sake of hiker safety.
He said when the Central Weather Bureau issues a land warning, the police should immediately order hikers to leave mountainous areas and refuse to issue any new hiking permits.
In the central mountains, the fire administration said yesterday, authorities had lost contact with several hikers.
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