Despite President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) remarks that now is not the right time to assign blame for mass flooding in southern Taiwan from Typhoon Fanapi, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday continued trading accusations over the disaster.
Saying that the DPP was Taiwan’s ruling party for eight years and has governed in Kaohsiung for the past 12 years, KMT Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) of the DPP should not shift blame to the central government and should instead focus her attention on reconstruction.
“Chen’s comments that the central government should take 80 percent of the responsibility for the drainage construction in Kaohsiung only frustrate Kaohsiung residents more and show her lack of a sense of responsibility,” Su said.
Chen made the comment in response to criticism by KMT Kaohsiung City councilors who faulted the municipal team’s disaster relief work and drainage system design after the typhoon.
Arguing that the central government has devoted full efforts to the relief and reconstruction work in the aftermath of the flooding, Su yesterday said Chen should join efforts with the central government in the reconstruction, rather than shifting her responsibility.
DPP officials, on the other hand, insisted the blame does not lie with the Kaohsiung City Government.
One day after the flooding, KMT legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) accused Chen of placing her own re-election bid first and the safety of residents second — after showing documents that suggested her administration spent part of its water treatment budget on municipal promotions.
Chiu yesterday said the flooding was caused by human error, alleging that the city government neglected water treatment issues for years and questioning whether it had dredged city ditches prior to the typhoon.
DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said Chiu’s accusations took information out of context.
Chiu “played around with the numbers and is trying to connect two unrelated things,” Huang said.
According to the DPP caucus, promotional funding was drawn from a budget for human resources.
Kaohsiung City officials said the misunderstanding arose because the city government disbanded its public relations office in July at the request of the KMT-led city council. Instead, it takes its promotional funding from various city branches.
“Everything was done according to the letter of the law,” said Hsu Li-ming (�?�), director-general of the city government’s Information Office. “Not a cent was drawn from the water treatment engineering budget.”
Huang said another report issued by the National Auditing Office highlighting deficiencies in Kaohsiung City’s water treatment system, made public by Chiu on Tuesday, showed that KMT-administered Taipei City had even more unresolved issues.
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday that the central government should play a bigger role in managing flood prevention.
“Every time we see a flood like this happen, central and local governments are always unclear about their responsibilities,” she said. “But it is evident that only the central government has the power and funding to effectively handle the situation.”
At a separate setting yesterday, Chen said she did not mean to deflect responsibility with her remarks on Tuesday.
“I never thought to shirk my responsibility,” Chen told a press conference as she offered an apology to Kaohsiung residents for their suffering from the flooding.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
GENSLER SURVEY: ‘Economic infrastructure is not enough. A city needs to inspire pride, offer moments of joy and foster a sense of belonging,’ the company said Taipei was named the city with the “highest staying power” in the world by US-based design and architecture firm Gensler. The Taiwanese capital earned the top spot among 65 cities across six continents with 64 percent of Taipei respondents in a survey of 33,000 people saying they wanted to stay in the city. Rounding out the top five were Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City (61 percent), Singapore (59 percent), Sydney (58 percent) and Berlin (51 percent). Sixth to 10th place went to Monterrey, Mexico; Munich, Germany; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Vancouver; and Seoul. Cities in the US were ranked separately, with Minneapolis first at
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association has cautioned Japanese travelers to be vigilant against pickpockets at several popular tourist spots in Taiwan, including Taipei’s night markets, the Yongkang Street area, Zhongshan MRT Station, and Jiufen (九份) in New Taipei City. The advisory, titled “Recent Development of Concerns,” was posted on the association’s Web site under its safety and emergency report section. It urges travelers to keep backpacks fully zipped and carried in front, with valuables placed at the bottom of the bag. Visitors are advised to be especially mindful of their belongings when taking photos or speaking on the phone, avoid storing wallets and
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
RSS