Minister Without Portfolio Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) yesterday criticized Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu’s (陳菊) handling of the gas explosions in which 30 people were killed and 310 injured on July 31 and Aug. 1, calling her a “culprit” in the disaster.
If LCY Chemical Corp was responsible for the tragedy because its pipeline was the source of the propane leak, Chen deserved to be called a “culprit” for her failure to mitigate the damage, Yang said.
Yang, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Greater Kaohsiung mayoral candidate in the Nov. 29 elections, made the accusations at a press conference in Greater Kaohsiung at which footage of Yang talking to the victims of the explosions was aired.
Chen should have demanded that LCY Chemical shut down its pipeline system for an examination when people reported smelling gas days before the explosions, Yang said.
Yang said he arrived at the site of the explosions at 1:45am and had stayed there until 5am, while Chen did not arrive until 3am, making her less able to assess the situation and coordinate disaster relief.
The local government can hardly absolve itself from the blame for the explosions because it was its failures to that had caused the calamity, Yang said.
Greater Kaohsiung Council Speaker Hsu Kun-yuan (許崑源), who was also present at the press conference, demanded that Greater Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳), Fire Department Director Chen Hung-lung (陳虹龍) and Environmental Protection Bureau Director-General Derek Chen (陳金德) step down to take responsibility for what Hsu said was the insufficient disaster response measures before and after the blasts.
Asked for comment, Greater Kaohsiung Information Bureau Director-General Ting Yun-kong (丁允恭) said the local government does not need to respond to the subjective points of view held by Yang and the KMT.
The municipality has already presented residents with a clear account of how it dealt with the gas explosions and the aftermath, Ting said.
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