Premier Chang San-cheng today accompanied President Ma Ying-jeou to inspect the Central Disaster Emergency Operation Center (CDEOC) for the Feb. 6 earthquake. In light of public concern, the premier stated that within one month the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Central Geological Survey will promulgate the nation's potential soil-liquefaction areas, and the Ministry of the Interior will put forward complementary and remedial measures to help residents of these areas live at ease.
Premier Chang pointed out that in the early days the Binjiang Street section of National Freeway No. 1 was susceptible to soil liquefaction. Engineering technology resolved related problems by rectifying the area's geology. Therefore, technology poses no obstacle; the key is to inform citizens in advance and take precautions.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Chwen-jing, serving as acting commander of the CDEOC, noted that the frontline rescue at the disaster site concluded the afternoon of Feb. 13, when the Tainan City Government recovered the last quake victim. At present more than 5,000 households are still without running water (they are expected to receive water before midnight), and several households are also awaiting repairs to their natural gas supply, Chen said.
Ongoing work also includes appraisals of endangered buildings, cleaning of school campuses and strengthening of their quake resistance, medical care for the injured, shelter and care for quake victims, psychological counseling, removal of debris and waste, and sanitation and disinfection. Relevant agencies will continue such tasks in their respective jurisdictions.
Acting commander Chen tasked all units and function-based personnel stationed at the CDEOC to meticulously record the relief measures carried out during the disaster-rescue period and submit this information to the Ministry of the Interior's National Fire Agency as soon as possible for compilation into a report to file to the Executive Yuan.
After the CDEOC has been disbanded, the reconstruction phase will begin, President Ma stated. He asked the Executive Yuan to task ministries and agencies to swiftly implement their subsequent major assignments, and continuously track ministries' and agencies' progress to ensure speedy completion. The full inspection of buildings' earthquake resistance and the strengthening of old buildings' quake resistance are especially urgent tasks.
The president expressed his gratitude to all the staff for their hard work and contributions during this period. Should local governments require further help, the central ministries and agencies must proactively extend all necessary assistance, he reiterated.