Lawmakers have begun work to amend public safety laws in a bid to to get tough on unscrupulous building contractors whose work proved fatal to many during the 921 earthquake.
Much of the blame for both death and property damage during the quake has been laid at the door of building contractors who violated safety laws and building regulations.
The judicial committee of the legislature passed a draft amendment yesterday, which increases the sentence on contractors or inspectors whose violation of building codes during construction results in the death of residents to a maximum of life imprisonment. Under existing law, the maximum penalty is five years.
The amendment, which is currently about halfway through the legislative process, is expected to force contractors and inspectors take public safety more seriously. The aim is to reduce casualties attributed to violations of the nation's building codes.
Over 2,400 people were killed and tens of thousands injured, and more than 15,000 buildings damaged as a result of a massive quake that hit Taiwan last September.
Prosecutors investigating the damaged buildings found that the earthquake's geological shock was far from being the sole cause of the high casualties and massive property damage.
The architects, contractors and inspectors responsible for the construction of these buildings, investigators said, were responsible for the fragility of the structures and must therefore take part of the blame for the massive losses.
During spot checks conducted on some of the collapsed buildings, prosecutors were stunned that waste materials -- such as metal cooking oil containers, newspapers and polystyrene -- has been embedded in reinforced cement pillars.
Since the disaster, many quake victims have complained that existing laws are too lenient on unscrupulous builders, with the result that they are negligent of their responsibilities in public safety.
A group of legislators, as a result, proposed to change the current public safety law to get tough on the builders who have violated the building codes and thus thereby posed a danger to others.
In addition, the criminal liability of architects is also addressed for the first time in the draft amendment, along with those of contractors and building inspectors.
Under the draft amendment, the architects, contractors and inspectors who have contributed to the death of a person through their violation of the building code face a jail sentence of between seven years and life.
For causing injuries of others, they are liable to sentences ranging from three to ten years.
Liao Wan-ju (
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