Responding to allegations of government inefficiency by residents devastated by Tropical Storm Mindulle, Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday promised a special budget that would improve flood-prevention infrastructure.
"We will satisfy local government requests by providing NT$570 million to dredge the main rivers of Miaoli County," he said.
Yu also said that the government would find out whether officials should be held responsible for the failure of Miaoli's Liyutan reservoir to function adequately during the storm, which resulted in considerable damage and a four-day cut in the water supply in the center of the country.
"The Cabinet will rapidly punish any official who has acted negligently," Yu said, as he observed the efforts of military frogmen conducting urgent repairs on a damaged sluice gate.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs' Water Resources Agency said yesterday that the water supply will be fully operational from July 11.
Meanwhile, Taichung City councilors attacked Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) for alleged irregularities in the allocation of emergency water, saying that the mayor had priority use of water resources.
Hu denied yesterday that this was possible.
"I didn't even have a bath over those two days," he said.
However, he promised to investigate why his government did not use stored water provided for official use during emergencies.
Later yesterday, Yu promised the Taichung City government that the Cabinet would allocate more funding to dredge the Tali River over the next two years.
POLITICAL DAMAGE
Meanwhile, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday vowed that disaster relief would always primarily be the responsibility of government.
"This natural disaster is equivalent to an event that endangers the national security. Therefore post-disaster relief is a basic test of government capabilities," Chen said during an address at a joint military graduation ceremony yesterday.
Chen's comments were interpreted as correcting Vice President Annette Lu (
Lu had said, "It should not be considered genuinely merciful to rescue people who over-cultivated the mountain areas of Central Taiwan and ruined the soil."
Lu had also suggested that storm victims and other residents of central Taiwan move to Central America to assist those countries with development.
Local politicians and residents condemned Lu for her remarks, suggesting that she relocate to Central America herself.
Some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators were also unhappy and were quoted as saying that Lu's suggestion was "lacking in humanity."
Lu's office yesterday defended the vice president, saying she had simply proposed that the nation's mountain resources be allowed time to recover.
"I suggest that the government establish a special administration for mountain-area protection and allow the island's mountain areas a period of time so that they can rest," Lu said.
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man
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