Sat, Oct 16, 1999 page3

• Disaster victims could `do more to help themselves'

  • By Lin Chieh-yu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Victims of the 921 earthquake who lost their homes in central Taiwan are critical of the government's relief efforts, but some could do more than wait for compensation and help rebuild their shattered communities, a scholar said.

  Lo Shih-wei (羅時瑋), chairman of the department of architecture at Tunghai University, has been leading a team of specialists to help victims with reconstruction in Chungliao (中寮), a township reduced to ruins after the quake.

  Lo, with assistance from cultural workers, construction experts and building companies in central Taiwan, used a vacant lot near a river to build shelters. He also plans to launch a community newsletter to raise morale and motivate residents in their house rebuilding efforts.

  Lo said: "To build those shelters is only the beginning. We hope residents can live together and will form groups on their own to go out and help others with reconstruction.

  "They should lead the reconstruction process and express their feelings as members of the community."

  Lo said this was an opportunity for those affected by the disaster to reconstruct and strive for societal reform. But many residents, who have suffered the pain of losing their homes, appeared to be interested solely in getting quick compensation, he said.

  President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) has ordered that all victims should receive their relief payments today.

  Taking the shelters as an example, Lo said the government had given victims a choice to live in temporary shelters, or receive NT$3,000 per household member per month in subsidies for renting another apartment.

  Civilian organizations have speeded up their efforts to build shelters in both Taichung and Nantou counties. However, many residents said they would prefer direct compensation.

  In Puli (埔里), where over 70 percent of buildings were collapsed or damaged, and where at least 2,000 victims have camped out at Hungjen Elementary School (宏仁國中), most did not expect to live in the housing being built for them.

  "Some residents camped or tried to rent houses in other cities, making themselves eligible to receive government relief payments," said Lin Ching-teh (林金得), a Hungjen school official.

  "Those temporary shelters are only 12 pings, which may not be comfortable for a big family. And if the family has over four members it means they can receive more than NT$12,000 in housing subsidies. They can rent an apartment of more than 20 pings for less than NT$10,000," Lin said.

  There have also been misgivings from residents surrounding space allocation in the temporary shelters. Lin said that some local officials allotted more resources to their friends or relatives than other victims.

  Ju Mei-ling (朱美玲), a young single mother, escaped with her two children from an apartment in Puli when the quake destroyed her rented apartment and is camping in the Hungjen school's athletics field.

  She said she had no idea what their next step would be: "I would like to live in one of the shelters, but I am not sure whether I am qualified."

  "The government's policy changes every day," Lin said. "Some residents who are qualified do not plan to live in the shelters, while some really need shelter but are not qualified."

  Lo said the two-choice method of getting shelter or a subsidy was not appropriate.

  "The one principle that the government has regarding victims is the amount of relief payments. Officials simply do not have a vision for reconstructing the homes that have been destroyed because money alone is not the only thing that is needed in these cases," Lo said.
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