President Ma Ying-jeou convened and presided over a meeting of the National Security Council on the morning of August 14 to address the rescue and relief work associated with the disaster caused by Typhoon Morakot. The president listened to briefings by the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Council of Agriculture, the Department of Health, and Minister without Portfolio Tsai Hsun-hsiung. President Ma then issued a number of directives at the end of the meeting.
At the beginning of the meeting, President delivered remarks and commented that the devastation caused by Typhoon Morakot has resulted in serious loss of life and property. The severity of the damage has already exceeded the "August 7 floods" of 50 years ago, he said. At present, rescue work continues to be carried out, and post-disaster resettlement and reconstruction work has already begun. The president said that the reconstruction, as urgent as the rescue operations, is extremely strenuous and fraught with obstacles. However, the government is duty-bound to overcome all difficulties and complete the mission, he said.
Therefore, the president said that in his capacity as chairman of the National Security Council (NSC), he decided to convene the first National Security Meeting of his presidency today. He said that it is necessary for the nation to mobilize all of its resources in the rescue and relief effort, re-settlement of persons in disaster areas, and reconstruction. He said every effort will be made to help those who have been impacted by the disaster to return their lives to normal as soon as possible.
President Ma stated that with regards to rescue operations, on August 13 the military and the National Airborne Services Corps together rescued over 2,200 people via helicopter rescues, noting that in all of Taiwan's history, never have so many people been rescued by helicopter in a single day. The reason for this success was the improvement in weather conditions. Otherwise, he said, poor weather would have hindered this effort no matter the amount of resources devoted.
Secondly, commenting on the police system, the president said he hopes that all students at the Central Police University and Taiwan Police College will participate in services provided by the Executive Yuan. In particular, the president pointed out that these students could provide assistance at shelters or involve themselves in other work that does not require use of heavy machinery and that can be carried out unarmed. In the same light, the president noted that the Ministry of National Defense is planning to mobilize another 10,000 soldiers for the rescue and relief effort, with the manpower to be deployed as needed. In other words, wherever assistance is required, sufficient manpower from the Ministry of National Defense will be provided. The president said at this point, only the minimum number of personnel will be involved in ensuring Taiwan's military preparedness, with the rest ready to be mobilized for the rescue effort.
In areas in which the Ministry of Economic Affairs is responsible, the Water Resources Agency pointed out that local governments had just about completed a multi-year flood control project. Therefore, many areas did not suffer from flooding during the typhoon. On the other hand, flooding was seen among rivers and streams managed by the central government. The Tsengwen Reservoir is the largest reservoir, and discharged excess water at the rate of over 8,700 cubic meters per second, which triggered flooding in many places, he said. The president said that while compensation must be paid, he also pointed out that prevention measures are even more important, and in this vein noted that the construction of embankments along the Tsengwen River was carried out too slowly. President Ma therefore asked the Ministry of Economic Affairs to speed up this work. If possible, the president said he would like to see the work completed in two years.
As for transportation, the president said that work to replace roads and rail tracks needs to be completed in the shortest time possible. If extra funding is required to complete the work, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications should ask Premier Liu Chao-shiuan to appropriate a larger budget. In the same respect, compensation provided by the Council of Agriculture will be offered based on existing regulations governing financial assistance to the agricultural sector in the wake of natural disasters. The regulations require that financial assistance equivalent to between 20% and 23% of agricultural damages be provided. However, Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Wu-hsiung expressed his standpoint that special sectors be handled on a case by case basis. President Ma said he fully supports this viewpoint, and said that compensation issues must be carried out generously, simply, and quickly.
President Ma commented that Taiwan's national disaster prevention system and projects are completely different from those that were in place before the earthquake of September 21, 1999. After the earthquake, then Premier Vincent C. Siew and then Vice Premier Liu Chao-shiuan were responsible for the drafting of the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act. Shortly after the bill was sent to the Legislative Yuan, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came into power. It was during the DPP administration that the bill was passed by the legislature. President Ma said that in fact there was no need to issue an emergency order, since the emergency decree issued by the president in 1999 is now codified into law. President Ma said that it would be impossible for an emergency order now to exceed the authority provided under the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act.
The president also commented that a number of government officials, including Vice President Siew, Premier Liu, and Legislative Yuan President Wang, suggested the drafting of special articles governing reconstruction in the wake of the August 8 disaster. Based on the present budgetary needs, the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act allows for funding to first be appropriated for rescue work. According to this principle, only about NT$40 billion could be allocated, which is significantly short of the NT$110 billion needed. Therefore, we must draft and enact a special act that will enable the government to obtain a special budget, he said. President Ma said he is deeply grateful to Legislative Yuan President Wang for convening the major parties in the legislature and for carrying out communication with the Executive Yuan. This has already yielded good results, he said. President Ma expressed his hopes that once the bill is drafted, it will be passed in a timely manner, paving the way for an expanded budget.
The president noted that Legislative Yuan President Wang just brought up several important points, one of which was that he hopes that the families of the deceased will be able to receive psychological counseling. In this regard, the Department of Health also mentioned the holding of religious ceremonies. We should not take lightly the importance of these ceremonies, as they can play a crucial role in helping people recover from emotional trauma. President Ma said he believes this is essential.
The third point mentioned by President Ma is that according to the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act, the central government and cities and counties should be establishing post-disaster recovery commission. The president asked the Executive Yuan to establish the central Post-disaster Recovery Commission as soon as possible and to oversee the rapid creation of similar commissions by local county and city governments.
The fourth point regards compensation due to agricultural losses. According to the Agricultural Natural Disaster Relief Regulations, the president said that it is necessary to consider to providing assistance to specific industries on a case by case basis. President Ma said that the Legislative Yuan is currently screening the Farming Village Revitalization Bill. If this legislation can be passed during the current legislative session, it could be used in conjunction with other efforts to reconstruct disaster-stricken farming villages, he said.
The fifth point regards the resumption of communications and transportation links. This is crucial, as only once these links are restored can authorities clearly determine the needs of disaster areas. President Ma said that the Central Emergency Operation Center is in fact already at work on this problem, providing accurate real-time information and offering updates on the situation in disaster areas, he said.
President Ma also said that when information is released, it should be done so according to a flowchart similar to that used by the Council of Labor Affairs in helping unemployed persons to find work. Several rescue and assistance avenues should be set forth and then be formed into a flowchart via which information will be disseminated to persons in disaster areas. At the same time, all announcements should be posted on the Internet, enabling friends and relatives to download the information and pass it along. In this way, once those affected by the disaster see the notices, they can make calls to the appropriate agencies for financial assistance and other aid.
President Ma said Legislative Yuan President Wang mentioned that care should be taken to avoid overlapping relief efforts, which might result in the unreasonable distribution of resources. The president said that this is extremely important. He said that charitable donations need to be distributed carefully. Mishandling would damage the image of the government, he said. The president said he hopes that in this regard, the Ministry of the Interior will make the objectives, procedures and regulations associated with providing compensation uniform. This will help prevent various problems from arising in the future, he said. At the same time, the disaster handling reports furnished by the Central Emergency Operation Center should be linked with government agencies. The public then will be able to directly access the Central Emergency Operation Center's website when it goes to the websites of various government agencies, facilitating efforts to obtain the most updated information, he said.
The seventh point regards soil conservation. President Ma said that there are indeed many serious issues that must be faced. This disaster, he said, offers us an opportunity to turn crisis into opportunity and the Ministry of the Interior has in fact already unveiled its draft of a National Land Planning Act. Minister without Portfolio Tsai is presently screening the proposed legislation. The president said he hopes that prior to forwarding the draft to the Legislative Yuan during the next legislative session that Minister without Portfolio Tsai will first hold public forums and call together representatives from the academic and industrial communities to meet and form a consensus on the issue. President Ma remarked that the Executive Yuan must carefully plan the relocation of villages at an early date and that all geographical information and meteorological data must be evaluated. Consideration should be given to relocating villages that are no longer suitable for habitation. What needs to be avoided, he said, is that in the event of another disaster that there is not enough time to evacuate or relocate people in such areas.
The last point is that the disaster rescue and relief system must be examined. This system is already comprehensive and issues of all sorts were already considered beforehand, he said. However, in the execution of the system, it is important to enable local governments to act more effectively. Old equipment and machinery needs to be replaced as soon as possible, the president said. President Ma said that the delineation of responsibility between the central and local governments, as well as mechanisms integrating the efforts of the governments must be re-examined.
President Ma said that flood prevention is a topic that has been discussed for many years. However, serious flooding still occurs. Therefore, standards for embankments and flood prevention facilities must be raised even further. Presently, for the rivers and streams managed by the central government, measures have been taken to prepare for a 100-year event. The president said that even if standards were raised to prepare for 200-year floods, places still would have flooded given the amount of precipitation brought by Typhoon Morakot. However, with higher standards in place, at least damages could have been reduced, he said.
President Ma said that amid the death and destruction caused by the August 8 disaster, we can also see the compassion of the people of Taiwan. The people of the nation feel that they are all in the same boat. The government, he said, should work even harder to relieve the suffering of the people and understand the difficulties facing those impacted by the disaster. It will rapidly provide relief and assistance, he said. The president said that we have seen the hard work of rescue personnel from the military, the private sector and government agencies. Some people in the rescue effort even lost their lives, filling us with the deepest sorrow, he said. Their accomplishments in the rescue effort have been enormous, the president said. We are deeply grateful for their efforts, he said, furthermore asking that all government leaders should express their encouragement and reward their efforts when there is an opportunity.
President Ma said that he hopes that settlement and reconstruction work can be carried out generously, simply, and quickly. He also called on everyone to bear hardship without complaining and to do their utmost in completing their work and accomplishing their missions. He said that this will enable the public to realize that the government will live up to the expectations of the people and is boldly working to complete the task at hand.