Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday issued four directives to address public safety issues that have surfaced following a fire in Kaohsiung that killed 46 people and injured dozens.
The fire at the 13-story Cheng Chung Cheng (城中城) building on Thursday was Taiwan’s second-deadliest, behind a February 1995 blaze at the Weierkang Club in Taichung that killed 64 people.
Local residents have said the Cheng Chung Cheng building was home to many poor, elderly or disabled people, and many appear to have been trapped in their apartments during the blaze.
In a meeting convened yesterday with several Cabinet members, Su put the Ministry of the Interior in charge of carrying through four tasks, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said.
Su asked the ministry to work with local governments and check on fire-prevention mechanism in all old buildings, particularly residential buildings with mixed commercial use, adding that amendments ought be proposed in a timely fashion if current laws are found to be inadequate.
Su also asked the ministry to work with the Ministry of Health and Welfare as well as local authorities to prioritize resources for people from disadvantaged groups living in such buildings.
Buildings that are in a state of disrepair should be prioritized in local governments’ building renovation projects, Su said.
He also tasked the ministry with amending the Condominium Administration Act (公寓大廈管理條例) to make it mandatory for all buildings to establish a management committee.
However, the act does not apply to the 18,000 mixed-use buildings in the nation’s six special municipalities that were built before it was promulgated in 1995, it said.
Separately, the Kaohsiung City Government said it would cover the medical expenses of people injured in the fire and help arrange accommodation for the next six months for residents who have been displaced.
Additional reporting by CNA
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