Premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday ordered the Ministry of Economic Affairs to hold an interdepartmental meeting to review flood prevention measures that have been taken in flooded areas of the south since Wednesday last week and propose methods to improve them.
Lai issued the directive during a weekly Cabinet meeting in Taipei, after the ministry and other agencies briefed him about their response to the floods.
Due to the serious damage caused by southwesterly air flows battering southern Taiwan last week, Lai also ordered that an ad hoc disaster restoration team coheaded by ministers without portfolio Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) and Wu Tze-cheng (吳澤成) be established to streamline restoration efforts and help people return to their normal lives.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Existing flood prevention mechanisms can only manage 250 milliliters to 300 milliliters of rain within 24 hours, and the extremely heavy rain over the past week far exceeded the capabilities of such infrastructure, the premier said.
A high tide aggravated the floods, increasing the affected areas, he added, as he called on governments of affected localities to emphasize that point when addressing the public.
At the briefing, the Water Resources Agency said that the rainfall accompanying the southwesterly air flows was twice as much as that brought by Typhoon Morakot in 2009.
Drainage systems were overloaded by the larger-than-expected precipitation, which led to the flooding of more than 42,090 hectares, it said.
The Cabinet has budgeted NT$24 billion (US$7.81 million) to expand and improve drainage systems and NT$37 billion for river discharge systems, with work to develop both systems to be concentrated in flood-prone areas, the agency said.
One of the methods being deliberated involves digging trenches along median strips to prevent flooding in urban areas, it said.
Separately yesterday, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) commended military personnel for their contributions to disaster relief efforts.
“You have done well. I am proud of the military,” Tsai said at an event in Taipei to mark Armed Forces Day, which is on Monday.
The troops’ timely rescue and rehabilitation work during and after the floods, which safeguarded people’s lives and property, demonstrated the military’s national defense capabilities, Tsai said.
The government’s unstinting support for the military is evidenced by a proposed increase in the defense budget for fiscal year 2019, which would not only strengthen defense capabilities, but also help with social developments, she said.
After conferring awards on military personnel for their outstanding performance, Tsai said that faced with the threat posed by extreme weather, the burden of disaster relief on soldiers is heavier than ever.
She called on the public to reward soldiers they meet with encouragement and gratitude.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS