Premier Urges Fast Recovery for Flooded Hualien in Legislature

TaiwanPlus News

Taiwan’s Premier Cho Jung-tai addressed the legislature for the first time since a township in Hualien was inundated by muddy flash floods caused by a burst dam last week. The Cabinet says there is already budget ready for Guangfu’s recovery but the opposition Kuomintang says there needs to be a bespoke bill with a special budget allocated for the disaster.

Transcript

00:00It's been a week since deadly floods inundated a town in Hualien.

00:04Premier Zorong Cai addressed the legislature about what the government's been doing to help victims.

00:10Our reporter Irene Lin has been following the story and is live from our office in Taipei.

00:15Irene, how is the premier and the legislature responding to this disaster?

00:21Last year, legislative speaker Han Guo, you started the session today with a moment of silence

00:26for victims of the disaster in Hualien last Tuesday.

00:30At least 18 people were killed, and the town of Guangfu was buried in mud

00:34when a natural dam burst and sending 15 million tons of water downstream.

00:40Now, as for disaster relief, Premier Zorong Cai says the priority now is to help people in Hualien get back on their feet.

00:48The President has already asked, and formally signed up to the government,

00:51not only the soldiers who are willing to take care of the disaster,

00:54but all of the disaster work will be done in Hualien in Hualien.

00:58Now, as you heard, the President is pushing for fast recovery,

01:07and it seems the disaster has the government paying more attention to stopping floods before they could happen.

01:13Premier Jerome Tyrese stated his earlier pledge to create a four-year flood prevention plan

01:17that's worth three billion U.S. dollars, and that's going to be separate from a post-typhoon recovery bill passed a month ago,

01:25which allocates close to two billion U.S. dollars to areas that hit hard by typhoons in three storms in July and August, including Hualien.

01:34The Cabinet says some of that budget will also go towards helping Hualien this time,

01:38but opposition Kuomintang lawmakers are proposing a bespoke bill that's meant to help Hualien recover from this disaster.

01:46We'll be waiting on more details when we submit the draft.

01:49All right, Irene, there's certainly a lot to keep track of, but one more question.

01:53As Guangfu is being cleaned up, what does the town need right now?

01:57Well, people in Guangfu still need a lot of things, and that includes medical assistance,

02:04especially for the elderly and people with disabilities.

02:07And it's also caught people's attention that volunteers in Guangfu have been needed medical help

02:12after stepping on sharp objects hidden in a sludge

02:15and from getting heat stroke after shoveling mud under the sun for hours.

02:19Now, the health ministry has been trying remote doctor's visits through video calls

02:24and used drones to deliver prescription medicine in areas where roads were cut off and or blocked.

02:32Now, there's some good news.

02:33Tap water has been restored, though water pressure is low in some areas.

02:38Officials are also building a temporary river crossing that's meant to make it easier for resources to get into Guangfu,

02:45and that may be open in mid-October.

02:48Now, the president says he wants most things back to normal by mid-autumn festival,

02:54and that's less than a week from now.

02:56And residents there also need all the help they could get.

02:59So it's really putting some pressures on ministries and agencies to pour in as many resources as possible

03:05and as fast as they can.

03:08All right, Irene.

03:09Well, thanks for keeping tabs on that for us.

03:11That was Irene Lin reporting from our office in Taipei.

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