St.Time/TG.Ba :Taiwan declares state of emergency

[Dao Van <daotb@yahoo.com>]

SEP 26 1999

Taiwan declares state of emergency

The military will control evacuation and relief operation, as refugees
face threat of a typhoon and more tremors

By CHING CHEONG EAST ASIA CORRESPONDENT

TAIWAN President Lee Teng-hui last night declared a six-month state of
emergency to speed up relief to 100,000 refugees as the island faced the
threat of an approaching typhoon and fresh tremors. 

The entire evacuation and relief operation following Tuesday's
devastating quake will now be placed under military control. 

"Only the military can cope with such a
grave situation," he said in a statement. 


"Measures must be adopted immediately to
help suffering families, to relocate the refugees and to help with
reconstruction." The move will also enable the government to
re-prioritise budgets swiftly, bypassing existing laws on property,
freedom of movement or parliamentary procedures. 

It will also speed up the handling of the dead.  Death certificates have
not been issued fast enough to allow prompt cremations, leaving bodies
to decompose in the open for days. 

Premier Vincent Siew called an emergency meeting of the Executive Yuan,
or Cabinet, yesterday morning to iron out details of the decree, which
also sought to reconstruct infrastructure with damage estimated at
US$3.14 billion (S$5.4 billion). 

It was the fourth time since 1949 that a president has issued emergency
orders in Taiwan. 

Critics said that more lives might have been saved if such a decision
was made earlier, instead of five days after the disaster. 

Central Taiwan, including Nantou and Taichung counties, was declared a
disaster area.  Most of the quake's 2,022 victims died here. 

The death toll was down from the previous 2,160 as "there was a
significant overlap in the number of deaths reported in Nantou and
Taichung counties", said officials. 

The state of emergency announcement came amid heavy rain from tropical
storm Cam over quake-ravaged mountainous areas.  These areas remained
inaccessible due to landslides and damaged roads. 

A senior weather forecaster said chances of a direct hit by the tropical
storm were slim, but stressed that precautions have to be taken as many
homeless people were living in the open. 

Earlier in the day, a separate earthquake
--
the first from a different faultline since Tuesday -- struck Taichung
county. 

It measured 5.1 on the Richter scale, but there were no reports of
casualties. 

A severe aftershock, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale, then hit the
island, jolting buildings in Taipei from Nantou.  Figures on damage or
casualties were not known yet. 

The government yesterday shifted its focus from rescue work to providing
food and shelter for the homeless as well as reconstruction, as hope of
finding more survivors dimmed. 



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