Tang Fei (唐飛) yesterday offered his resignation to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to take full political responsibility in a bid to ease public outrage over the Pachang Creek (八掌溪) tragedy.
However, Chen declined to accept the resignation, and instead encouraged him to conquer the challenges that the new government is facing.
"The new government has no excuse for mishandling the rescue. The only thing I can do is to resign," Tang said at a press conference held yesterday morning.
PHOTO: LIAO RAY-SHANG, THE LIBERTY TIMES
Four workers conducting riverbed work in Pachang Creek found themselves overwhelmed by a rapidly rising torrent on Saturday afternoon. The four waited in vain for a rescue helicopter and finally were swept into the muddy water and drowned.
Only two bodies have been found so far, while public outrage over the government's failure to mount a rescue continues to rise.
Chen called an urgent Cabinet meeting around 8pm yesterday to work out how to minimize the political damage the event has caused his administration.
Tang held a second review meeting yesterday morning to clarify details and responsibilities concerning the rescue delay.
A demerit was handed down to 13 ministers, including Director of the National Fire Administration Chen Horng-i (
Tang has authorized the Military Rescue and Coordination Center (
"Poor communications and a lack of ability to deal with a crisis led to the failure of the rescue. The first "life-critical" 32 minutes had been wasted on following administrative procedure authorizing the dispatch of the rescue team. We will thoroughly review the government's mechanism to deal with such a situation and strengthen rescue forces and equipment," Tang said.
He then dispatched Secretary-General of the Cabinet Wea Chi-lin (
The body of Liu Chih (劉智) was pulled from the mud of the Pachang Creek yesterday at about 2pm. Liu's relatives identified the body.
The military has vowed to keep up its search effort, while the families of the two missing victims, Yang Tzu-chung (
Each of the four victims or their families are entitled to NT$200,000 in compensation under the National Compensation Law. In addition, the victims' families can claim compensation for occupational injury and death according to the Labor Insurance Law (勞保條例).
Approximately NT$820,000 will be awarded to Yang Tzu-chung, who is covered by labor insurance, while the remaining three are entitled to farmers' insurance of approximately NT$150,000.
The Council of Labor Affairs (
Chang Chun-hsiung (
"The president is both saddened and furious over the tragedy. He has ordered that further investigations into the government's negligence be conducted," Chang said.
"Saving lives should be the top priority of any rescue mission and the president fully respects Tang Fei's decision to penalize the authorities responsible for the mistake," Chang said.
Chang also responded to New Party legislators' accusations that two out of the four Seagull rescue helicopters were reserved for the president's use.
He said that Chen was not aware of the former government's arrangements, and that the president had immediately ordered the two helicopters concerned to be assigned to rescue missions only.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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