Vice Premier Jiang Yi-huah called for a safety inspection of all Taiwan's college and university buildings on July 11.
He made this pronouncement after being briefed by the Executive Yuan's Consumer Protection Committee (CPC) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) about their inspection of 18 tertiary institutions' dormitories and restaurants this March and April, which they conducted in response to a fatal fire last year at an off-campus residence rented by National Dong Hwa University students.
In conjunction with local firefighting, police, construction, sanitation and environmental protection units, the two agencies assessed facilities at selected institutes of higher education spanning Taipei City, New Taipei City, Tainan City, Hsinchu City, Changhua County, Chiayi County, Pingtung County and Hualien County for five items: fire safety, food sanitation, building management, drinking fountain management and security.
Only two of the 18 schools were up to standard on all five targeted items, and another, Da-Yeh University, had not even obtained licenses for two dormitories.
Vice Premier Jiang, who doubles as convener of the CPC, expressed great concern over the inspection results. After the briefing, he directed the MOE to take action and report back future improvement measures and mandating that unlicensed dormitories be barred from housing students. He also ordered safety inspections of all tertiary institution buildings.
According to the Executive Yuan's Department of Consumer Protection, a follow-up inspection found that all the issues uncovered in the first assessment had either been addressed already or were undergoing rectification that would be completed by a specific date; all food and drinking fountain sanitation and fire control problems have been resolved; local authorities have explained building safety problems to schools and set a timeframe for improvements; and the police have ordered schools whose security cameras do not store data for at least a month to rectify the situation.
As for Da-Yeh University's unlicensed dormitories, Jiang directed the MOE to supervise the university to ensure that the buildings are structurally safe and that all irregularities are rectified; the vice premier also stressed the buildings should not be permitted to house students while they are unlicensed.
Since the September 21, 1999 earthquake, the MOE has demanded that schools of all levels improve their buildings' structural safety as well as their food sanitation and ensure the buildings' fire management mechanisms meet legal standards.
Immediately after the inspections, the CPC formed a taskforce to coordinate with Changhua County Government to help Da-Yeh University expeditiously acquire dormitory licenses. In addition, on June 29 the MOE sent out an official document to all colleges and universities enjoining them to confirm that their dormitories are licensed and offering to assist them to speedily rectify any irregularities.