The Executive Yuan yesterday said that it would discuss whether to promulgate a special act to oversee post-earthquake reconstruction in Tainan later this week, while pledging to ensure the welfare of people affected by the disaster.
Premier Simon Chang (張善政) held a meeting at the Central Emergency Operations Center in New Taipei City yesterday morning to discuss post-earthquake priorities with other government officials.
The meeting followed Saturday’s conclusion of the search-and-rescue operation at the Weiguan Jinlong complex in Tainan’s Yongkang District (永康), which was toppled by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake on Feb. 6 that killed a total of 116 people and injured 551.
“The public has been wondering if the government is to draw up a special act for reconstruction work,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) told a post-meeting news conference in Taipei.
“Premier Chang has instructed Minister Without Portfolio Hsiao Chia-chi (蕭家淇) to hold another meeting with relevant government agencies to deliberate on the matter and a decision is to be announced before Thursday,” Sun said.
Sun said that the terms of any special act would ensure the welfare of those affected and would be in line with the special acts governing the reconstruction work following the 921 Earthquake in 1999 and Typhoon Morakot in 2009.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Relieve Disaster Foundation — the agency in charge of allocating disaster relief donations — is to hold a board meeting today to discuss the distribution donations earmarked for Tainan earthquake relief, Sun said.
“Our goals are the same,” Sun said, adding that the central government would ascertain what resources are available for the Tainan City Government to tap and would continue to work with it.
With regards to compensation, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiang Been-huang (蔣丙煌) said at a news conference that the families of those killed by the earthquake would be offered NT$3 million (US$89,499) per person, while those severely or mildly injured are to be granted NT$750,000 and NT$200,000 respectively.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲), who represents a constituency in Tainan, said reconstruction is a long-term project because it involves several issues, such as where people displaced by the earthquake should be relocated to, the employment prospects of those severely injured and the education of victims’ children.
“The Executive Yuan should come up with a thorough plan. Since reconstruction work might require the allocation of a special budget, there might be a need for a special act,” Lin said, urging the central government to work closely with the Tainan City Government.
The Executive Yuan would have the support of the legislature — dominated by the DPP — if it decides to draw up a special act for post-earthquake reconstruction work, Lin said.
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