President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday urged the public to learn from past disasters and improve disaster-prevention work as the nation remembered victims of the devastating earthquake 10 years ago and the fatal storm last month.
Last month, Typhoon Morakot devastated central and southern Taiwan, with more than 700 people killed and more than 7,000 left homeless.
“Natural disasters have become a common challenge for Taiwan. Faced with these disasters, we must understand that people cannot fight nature. We need to coexist with natural calamities,” Ma said in his weekly online speech.
The reconstruction efforts in the wake of the 921 Earthquake turned the crisis into opportunities and successfully revived many communities, he said.
“The reconstruction of the areas devastated by the 921 Earthquake took a long time, but we did not despair. This refusal to bow down [in the face of disaster] is a demonstration of the spirit of Taiwan,” Ma said.
Taiwan is an island with few natural resources but many natural disasters, he said, adding that the best approach was to be equipped with knowledge to prevent and cope with disasters.
“We should learn our lesson from the Aug. 8 flood and handle any approaching typhoon as if it were Typhoon Morakot,” Ma said.
The president stressed the importance of evacuating residents in towns and villages in dangerous areas and promised that the government would help these disaster areas rise again from the rubble.
He said the government would draft national land planning laws to examine dangerous areas, and the Ministry of the Interior would set up standard procedures for evacuation to improve efficiency when disaster strikes.
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