Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said yesterday he hoped people displaced by Typhoon Morakot could be resettled in permanent houses before the first anniversary of the storm that wreaked havoc in the south in August.
“I am pleased to see land being prepared for the construction of permanent homes for typhoon survivors in several mountain villages in Pingtung County and I hope all the new houses can be completed by the end of July,” Jiang said while inspecting the site of the resettlement project at Majia Farm.
The farm, in Pingtung’s Majia Township (瑪家), will accommodate about 350 households from the county’s Haocha (好茶) and Dashe (大社) villages, both of which were destroyed by Morakot-triggered floodwaters and mudslides.
As some households in Majia township have provided ancestral land for the construction project, they will also be part of Majia Farm, bringing the total number of houses to be built on the site to 483, said Tu Ming-han (杜明翰), president of World Vision Taiwan, which is sponsoring the Majia resettlement project.
Tu told Jiang that the most difficult aspect of the construction project was land acquisition.
“Now that the thorny land issue has been resolved, land preparation has begun and construction will start in March,” Tu said.
“Once it starts, it will proceed swiftly and smoothly and we believe all 483 new houses will be ready for occupancy by typhoon victims by the end of July,” he said.
Typhoon survivors from Haocha and Dashe villages will be hired to build their new homes under an “employment replacing relief” program, Tu said.
“The new houses will all be environmentally friendly buildings, with each unit expected to help reduce carbon emissions by 40 tonnes per year,” he said.
In addition, nine churches and one elementary school will also be built on Majia Farm. Moreover, a specialty industry development center will be established to help residents start up new businesses and earn a living on their own in future.
Jiang expressed gratitude to and admiration for World Vision Taiwan, a Christian charity, for its dedicated assistance in the effort to resettle displaced typhoon victims.
Typhoon Morakot struck Taiwan between Aug. 7 and Aug. 9 last year, leaving more than 700 dead or missing and thousands homeless.
Yesterday, more than 400 eligible Morakot victims in Kaohsiung County were resettled in new permanent houses built by a Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation-organized construction project.
The housing project in Kaohsiung’s Shanlin Township (杉林), launched on Nov. 15, is called the Great Love (大愛) community and is spread over a 60 hectare area. Tzu Chi, which plans to build 1,500 houses on the site, has completed the first 600.
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