Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-09-25

Premier William Lai apologized on Tuesday for failing to manage flooding

that has caused massive damage in central and southern Taiwan.

Lawmakers from the opposition Kuomintang form a line at the Legislature and chant slogans calling on Premier Lai to reflect on his mistakes.

One of Lai’s pledges after he became premier was to put infrastructure in place to prevent flooding. However, heavy rainfall at the end of August in central and southern Taiwan led to severe flooding. Over 46,000 hectares of land was flooded and more than 33,000 households were affected. Agricultural losses and damage to schools has exceeded NT$ 1.35 billion (US$44 million).

On behalf of the government, Lai apologized to all affected by the flooding. He said he has set up a task force to oversee recovery efforts. He said he has also asked the economics ministry to review past flood management plans to better integrate resources when dealing with future incidents.
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