As the central and local governments continued to bicker over who should handle relief funds, several social groups formed a monitoring alliance Friday to help better coordinate post-quake rehabilitation efforts.
There was a quick response from the Cabinet, with Premier Vincent Siew (
The monitoring alliance, the Nationwide Civilian Post-quake Reconstruction Coordination and Review Alliance (全國民間災後重建協調監督聯盟), is headed by Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲).
In its first meeting Friday, it decided to closely review the operation of social groups' funds distribution for the next six months. If necessary, it would suggest that the government apply the Emergency Decree and compel those who refuse to cooperate to do so. For the next year or two, it will be dedicated to integrating post-quake reconstruction efforts.
The alliance does not have any legal power over its members and can only make suggestions to them and to the government. Nor does it have any power over non-member groups.
"What we are trying to do here is centralize the power of public groups, so our left hand will know what the right hand is doing," Lee said.
According to Feng Yen (
The alliance currently has about 50 group members. It comprises two departments: the donation review committee and the service coordination committee.
The donation review committee is currently made up of four organizations: the Accountants' Association, the Lawyers' Association, the Consumers' Foundation and the United Way of Taiwan (聯合勸募協會).
For the next six months, it plans to examine members' accounts with help from the government and publish the results every six months.
The service coordination committee will conduct a two-year project investigating the situation of the disaster areas and report reconstruction needs to the committee. Other long-term plans include community reconstruction and psychological counseling.
The alliance does not accept donations, individual members or political parties. Those interested in becoming a member may call (02) 2700-9595 or fax (02) 2704-4854.
The Cabinet-level fund management unit, the 921 Disaster Relief Civil Donations Management Committee (九二一賑災民間捐款基金管理委員會), is comprised of corporate associations and government officials. It is headed by Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF, 海峽交流基金會) Chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫). The committee will pool funds gathered from government units, including the Cabinet and the Ministry of the Interior. It also welcomes public groups interested in joining.
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