The Coast Guard Administration was yesterday accused of negligence in the drowning deaths of two employees near the Port of Taipei last month, after the victims’ relatives came forward to question the circumstances leading up to the tragic event.
Niu Chun-hao (牛俊皓), 23, a conscript serving his compulsory military service with the agency, and Coast Patrol Corps No. 22 second lieutenant Huang Ming-yang (黃銘洋), 32, died while out on patrol on the morning of Feb 1.
It is suspected that their vehicle was swept to sea — possibly by a freak wave in rough weather — while on the outer pier of Taipei Harbor (台北港) in New Taipei City’s Bali District (八里).
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
Huang’s body was found on Feb. 7, while Niu’s was found on Feb. 12.
Niu’s uncle Chao Chun-sheng (趙春盛) yesterday said at a news conference that agency officials were negligent and must have violated regulations in order for the tragedy to occur.
Chao said that Niu could only drive vehicles with an automatic transmission, “but the patrol van had a manual transmission. Despite this, he was pressed into service as a driver.”
Chao, who was accompanied by People First Party Legislator-at-large Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔), accused agency officials of dereliction of duty due to their lack of supervision and for violating rules on the training of drivers.
“When [Niu’s] unit made job assignments, they did not check driver’s license categories,” Chao said.
“They simply asked conscripts who had a driver’s license to raise their hands. There was no training provided on driving a manual-transmission vehicle. If the administration does not make changes and address this issue, they will have more deaths on their hands,” Chao said.
Coast Patrol Corps No. 22 commander Yang Sheng-sung (楊勝松) said that agency officials checked driver’s licenses in the past.
However, due to the promulgation of the Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法) last year, the administration no longer did so, because that would violate articles in the act on the protection of an individual’s personal information, he added.
Agency Deputy Director-General Huang Han-sung (黃漢松) said that the administration had proposed the establishment of a driving school to train staff, but the project had been delayed due to budget constraints.
Huang said that agency officials would thoroughly check driver’s license categories from now on.
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