The Legislative Yuan today unanimously agreed to fast-track amendments to a special act for rebuilding in the aftermath of extensive flooding last month directly to a second reading.
The draft bill would fund relief efforts after Hualien County’s Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) landslide dam failed on Sept. 23, due to torrential rains brought by Typhoon Ragasa, flooding Guangfu Township (光復) and the surrounding area.
Photo: Wang Chun-chi, Taipei Times
Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) is to convene cross-party negotiations.
The Executive Yuan on Thursday last week approved amendments to a separate recovery plan for Typhoon Danas in southern Taiwan, seeking an additional budget of NT$25 billion (US$813.42 million) for Hualien, increasing the total relief package to NT$85 billion.
The amendments would allow authorities to survey and monitor the barrier lake along the Mataian River, set up a flood-prone area, work on sediment and soil control and relocate affected residents.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus called on the Cabinet to draft its own version of the bill so that all parties can discuss the best reconstruction plan for disaster victims.
Meanwhile, the central and local governments have been debating who should take responsibility for evacuation efforts, with the Hualien County Government requesting the Executive Yuan to draft and implement a disaster evacuation and sheltering plan.
However, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said today that the responsibility lies with local governments, as written under law.
Legislators and the Hualien County Government cannot pass on the responsibility to the central government or township offices, he said.
Evacuations are to be carried out by the Hualien County Government and three township offices with assistance from the military, Minister of the Interior Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) said yesterday.
Liu called on the local government to follow up on coordination measures outlined by Minister Without Portfolio Chi Lien-cheng (季連成), the chief coordinator of disaster relief efforts in Hualien County, and clarify details of the current evacuation plan, including protection rosters, so that a new plan can be drafted.
If the local government needs assistance, the Ministry of the Interior would comply under Cho’s directives, he added.
KMT caucus whip and Hualien legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) said the blame cannot be put on the local county government, as all typhoon-related evacuation measures are the responsibility of township and district offices.
The National Disaster Relief Center and the Hualien County Government have placed a red alert on Guangfu Township due to an incoming typhoon which remains in place.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS