Disappointed at the Taipei City Government's handling of the flooding in Shezi Island (社子島) and Beitou (北投) late on Tuesday night, the Taipei City Council yesterday demanded that Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) present an evaluation report and compensate affected residents.
The sudden torrential rainfall on Tuesday night flooded a total of 94 houses in the two areas, and attracted complaints from local residents and boroughs chiefs about the city government's slow response to the damage.
City councilors from all parties yesterday joined in condemning the city government for failing to provide immediate assistance, urging it to give affected residents subsidies as it did after Typhoon Nari hit the nation in 2001.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
While acknowledging the city government's negligence, Hau said the government would provide subsidies according to rules of the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act (
Hau blamed the central government for refusing to approve the Shezi Island flood prevention project, and urged it to approve the project when it is resubmitted by the end of next month.
Before construction of long-term flood prevention measures proceed, Hau said the city government would dig water-collecting wells in Shezi Island in the next month as a temporary solution.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilors Hsu Chia-chin (徐佳青) and Wu Su-yao (吳思瑤), and Taiwan Solidarity Union Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏), however, continued to attack the city government's handling of the flooding, and accused Hau of ignoring the development of Shezi Island.
"The city government has been ignoring the development of the island. Flooding has been a serious problem for the area, and local residents are treated like second-class citizens," Hsu said.
The council later agreed that the city government should establish a special team to investigate negligence in the handling of the flooding, and demanded Hau present a report on damage-control measures regarding the flooding.
The Taipei City Water Conservancy Office said Shezi Island is prone to flooding and Tuesday's rain exceeded the capacity of the area's drainage system, causing the most serious flooding in five years.
According to information from the Central Weather Bureau, Miaoli County had the largest accumulated rainfall in the nation yesterday. Between midnight and 5:30pm yesterday, Houlung (
The nation's agricultural losses because of torrential rain in the current plum rain season, as of Wednesday, were estimated at NT$11.4 million (US$345,000), a Council of Agriculture official said.
The two counties worst affected are Changhua County, with losses of NT$11.16 million, and Miaoli County, with losses of about NT$242,000, the official said.
Farmland covering 255 hectares has seen 28 percent of its area damaged, which is the equivalent of 72 hectares rendered useless because of the heavy rains, the official said, adding that the most seriously damaged farms were those producing watermelons, green onions, cabbages or wax gourds.
Additional reporting by staff writer and CNA
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party