Two years after 921 struck, many victims still wonder when they'll have a permanent roof over their heads
PHOTO: SHEN CHAO-LIANG
Two years to the day after the 921 earthquake destroyed the houses of thousands of families, many are still living in temporary quarters and wondering when -- if ever -- they'll have a permanent place to call home.
In the eyes of those who have waited two years to rebuild their homes, the efforts of the DPP government and local governments have been far from satisfactory.
PHOTO: SHEN CHAO-LIANG
"Why is it so difficult to rebuild a house? How many more two-year periods must it take?" quake victims ask.
According to government data, less than 30 percent of the roughly 100,000 buildings that collapsed or were partially damaged in the devastating temblor have been rebuilt.
The most time-consuming projects have been the reconstruction of apartment buildings nationwide. The rebuilding efforts have been hampered by disagreements among apartment owners, who jointly own the land on which their former homes once stood.
Empty communities
"Golden Paris," a community in Taichung County's Tali township, is empty.
The community's residents chose to rebuild their homes on new land rather than at the scene of the tragedy. The government promised to make new land available in exchange for the community's old property.
But two years on, the promised land remains undelivered.
"The Cabinet's Construction and Planning Administration and the local governments have been kicking us around," said Huang Yu-ying (
It's not an isolated case.
Taichung City's Yuan-chien Building hasn't been rebuilt even though President Chen Shui-bian (
"We haven't received enough funding for reconstruction, so the work has been postponed," said Liao Teh-fu (廖得富), chairman of the building's reconstruction committee.
Another 95 empty sites are also awaiting reconstruction. They include 14 apartment buildings -- damaged beyond repair -- that haven't even been demolished yet.
Legal action
In Tali, residents of the Cheng-kung Building don't want their building torn down because it's evidence in their suit against the building's contractor. "We want to retain the evidence," a resident said.
When it comes to individual homes, the results have been more successful.
In Nantou's Chichi and Chushan townships, residents are proud of the new homes they have built from the rubble.
Key to their success is that in these countryside villages, the residents own the land and there's little red tape in their way.
Pai Chih-hsiu (
"With an NT$2.5 million interest-free loan from the government, NT$1 million in compensation for the loss of a family member and a NT$200,000 pay-out for the collapse of a home, I collected much of the money needed for reconstruction," Pai said.
Rebuild or relocate?
Despite the success stories, there remains concern about whether the government is leaving some residents vulnerable to future disasters.
Shortly after 921 hit, there was talk of moving residents out of areas prone to quakes, but little has been done.
Chen Hui-yi (
But the plan failed due to poor coordination among governmental agencies, as well as legal barriers.
"Many Aboriginals are unwilling to leave their ancestors' land for cultural and social reasons," Chen said. "Some fruit farmers and landlords refuse to relocate for economic reasons."
Though Chingshui's 20 households agreed a year ago to move off their land to property owned by the National Property Bureau under the Ministry of Finance, legal problems have prevented the plan from being put into effect.
Pai, who is also president of Nantou County's rescue association, believes the government should force villages in dangerous areas to relocate -- otherwise they'll be left in the unpredictable hands of Mother Nature.
"Take the mountainous areas in Chushan for example," Pai said. "Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on flood prevention measures, but heavy rains brought by Typhoon Herb in 1996 and in the aftermath of the 921 quake washed them away in 10 minutes."
Pai said allocating money to make endangered areas safe was a lost cause. "There's no point in spending any more money. No buildings should be allowed to be constructed in these places."
Two years in a tent
While the debate over reconstruction continues, it's doing nothing to help people like a woman surnamed Hong, who lives in Puli in Nantou.
After two years, Hong and her family are still living in a tent and have been hospitalized several times because of poor sanitary conditions.
Despite her hardship, Hong says she takes things "one day at a time."
But how many more days Hong will have to keep a stiff upper lip remains to be seen.
According to data from the 921 Earthquake Disaster Reconstruction Foundation, out of 103,961 affected homes, just 26,199 have been rebuilt or are currently under reconstruction.
A deadline to have families moved into new homes is due to expire shortly but will be extended by one year.
"Housing involves many things -- including land, previous mortgages, reconstruction funds, urban planning and design -- so progress has been slow," said Ko Hsiang-tang (
Ko said that the government by 2004 plans to spend NT$11.5 billion on urban renewal; NT$2.1 billion to repair and strengthen or tear down and reconstruct quake-affected apartment buildings; NT$30.5 billion to rebuild single-family homes and provide assistance for temporary residences; NT$9.6 billion to rebuild agricultural villages; NT$2.9 billion to rebuild Aboriginal communities; NT$21.4 billion for new communities; and NT$2.4 billion to relocate villages affected or destroyed by landslides.
"We want to take care of all the affected households by completing the seven proposals by the end of 2004," Ko said.
With the pushed-back deadline, that means quake victims will have at least two more years in prefabricated homes.
The Alliance of 921 Affected Households has put forth two proposals. In the first, the government would file lawsuits on behalf of apartment owners against contractors who preferred cutting corners to doing the job right. In the second, the government would build individual homes and sell them to quake victims at low prices.
"These two measures would cost just NT$38 billion, far less than the NT$100 billion proposed by the government" for its programs, said Tsao Wei-hao (
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