Opposition lawmakers yesterday lashed out at what they called the government's slow progress in carrying out 921 earthquake reconstruction and mishandling of relief donations.
"Although the government has only managed to carry out less than 60 percent of the planned earthquake reconstruction, the authorities have been eager to exaggerate their pathetic achievements," said KMT lawmaker Chu Feng-chi (朱鳳芝) yesterday.
The 921 earthquake -- which registered 7.3 on the Richter scale -- rattled the nation on Sept. 21, 1999, claiming over 2,400 lives and destroying over 100,000 homes.
With the third anniversary of the 921 earthquake around the corner, Chu and another KMT lawmaker, Hung Hsiu-chu (
The conference was attended by some 10 opposition lawmakers from the KMT and the PFP.
As of Sept. 6, the money appropriated by the 921 Earthquake Reconstruction Foundation (ERDF) for the reconstruction effort was about NT$8.3 billion, less than 60 percent of the nearly NT$15 billion in public donations that poured in after the temblor, according to Chu.
EDRF is in charge of managing the donations received by the central government with the goal of helping earthquake victims rebuild their homes.
"The government spent hundreds of millions of dollars on field research and reconstruction proposals without ever putting proposals into practice," Hung said.
"Compared to the Buddhist Compassionate Relief Tzu Chi Foundation (
But Executive Director of the EDRF Shieh Jyh-cherng (
"The reconstruction timetables are often out of our control," said Chieh, adding that since Tzu-chi was focusing on the reconstruction of schools, construction could begin right as soon as the money was appropriated.
The opposition lawmakers also accused the Cabinet of spending more than NT$73 million out of their nearly NT$100 million on propagating their reconstruction achievements through newsletters, brochures and media advertisements.
But Wu Kun-mao (吳崑茂), deputy-executive director of the Cabinet's 921 Earthquake Post Disaster Recovery Commission, said that the lawmakers were exaggerating.
"The money was not spent on boasting, but on disseminating important information to the public regarding reconstruction progress or policies," he said.
Kuo Yao-chi (
Kuo said the government had not mislead the public on reconstruction efforts.
"In addition to the examination by the Ministry of the Interior, the construction projects are overseen by both the public and the county and city councils because all of the information is available online," Kuo said.
"I think it's important for both the lawmakers and the media to go down to the disaster areas and see for themselves what has been achieved," she said.
"I believe most of the people down there will tell them that they're grateful for what the government has done for them because that's what they tell me when I'm down there."
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
RSS