Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday responded to criticism regarding his absence during heavy rains and flooding in Taipei on Sunday, saying he is omnipresent like the Internet, and that the appearances of government heads at disaster sites are “publicity stunts.”
The combined forces of Typhoon Nesat and a northeastern monsoon caused heavy rainfall, flooding and landslides in parts of Taipei, including blockage of the Kangle tunnel in Neihu District (內湖).
Nationwide, there were more than 268 reports of flooding, fallen trees and other disruptions, 208 of which were in Taipei, Central Emergency Operation Center data showed on Sunday evening.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei City Government
Ko, who is also the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman, was in Nantou County and Taichung on Sunday, helping the party’s city councilor candidates to canvass for votes in next month’s local elections.
Ko on Sunday said that no matter where the government head is, officials should be able to follow standard procedures to respond to problems.
Taipei’s disaster response system has been updated over the past eight years, allowing officials to execute their duties without his supervision, he added.
City councilors across party lines criticized Ko for attending to TPP election business in Taichung, after which he canceled two campaign events in the evening and returned to Taipei, visiting the blocked tunnel at 8:20pm.
Democratic Progressive Party city councilors yesterday at a news conference questioned why the Taipei Emergency Operation Center was led by the city’s Fire Department head, while criticizing the late notification of approaching waters that caused cars parked along riversides to be flooded.
The councilors asked Ko to apologize to Taipei residents.
After inspecting the reopening of floodgates yesterday, Ko told reporters that “nowadays the Internet is omnipresent, and so is Ko Wen-je,” and that sending government heads to disaster-struck areas is a “publicity stunt.”
Ko said he had a Line group chat with department heads that helped him stay aware of developments, “in the digital era, everyone can work from home, so why sit in the emergency operation center for people to see? That’s too weak.”
“The US President can be on Air Force One and still command the whole world,” he said, adding that the government should spend another two years integrating data from the emergency operation center and Taipei’s “big data” center so that government heads can handle disasters more efficiently.
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