Vice Premier Chang San-cheng today inspected milkfish losses at Tainan City's Qigu District, which recorded a massive death of milkfish caused by the recent extreme cold weather. Chang directed the Council of Agriculture (COA) to ensure that these fishermen receive government subsidies before the Lunar New Year.
As this is the first time the administration will utilize the regulations for disaster-relief subsidies since the regulations' 2015 revision, Chang has tasked the COA to supervise the process, monitor the progress, and make timely adjustments to any inappropriate procedures.
The losses are massive and involve a huge amount of funding, stated the vice premier. The Executive Yuan will work with the Tainan City Government to help the affected fishermen receive the subsidies as soon as possible.
Regarding doubts that the Executive Yuan has been slow to respond to the damages caused by the extreme cold, Chang stated that as soon as low temperatures were forecast the week before, the Executive Yuan directed the various ministries to carry out preventative measures, and these ministries had also immediately taken preventative means and called on citizens to do likewise. The various ministries then persistently monitored the cold-inflicted damages and formulated response measures.
The Executive Yuan stated that on January 20 Minister without Portfolio Yeh Shin-cheng was tasked to convene a meeting at the Central Weather Bureau to appraise the possible weather conditions. On January 22, the COA set up a task force dedicated to coordinating relevant agencies for implementation of disaster-prevention, emergency-response, post-disaster recovery and other measures to deal with the cold damages. Yeh also convened a second interministerial coordination meeting on January 25, instructing the COA to speedily assess agricultural damage and carry out relevant remedial and subsidy measures as soon as possible.