Officials inspect eastern Taiwan after typhoon, pledge relief to farmers

Taipei, Nov. 2 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and other top government officials visited farmland and villages in eastern Taiwan in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey Saturday, promising the speedy provision of cash handouts for affected farmers.

Two days after Kong-rey swept across Taiwan, Lai, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) traveled to Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties separately to meet with local farmers and villagers and reassure them the government will provide financial assistance to cover their losses.

According to government statistics, agricultural losses incurred due to the typhoon had surpassed NT$480 million (US$15 million) as of Saturday morning.

Hualien and central Taiwan's Yunlin County suffered the most losses, with NT$150 million and NT$170 million respectively, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Speaking after inspecting land growing silver willows and kumquats in Yilan's Sanxing and Yuanshan townships, Lai pledged speedy relief and streamlined application process for farmers affected by the typhoon so they can resume farming as soon as possible.

The affected produce, such as silver willows, kumquats, green garlic, green onions and tea, in Yilan covered nearly 125 hectares, with a damage rate of 53 percent, according to the county's agriculture department.

The relief, consisting of cash handouts and low-interest loans, will be available for farmers not only in Yilan but also Hualien and Taitung, according to the agriculture ministry.

Lai urged county governments and their affiliated township offices to expedite the process of assessing damaged produce in their areas and report the results so the central government can quickly provide necessary aid.

Commenting on the fact that the cash handout each farmer receives is only about one-fourth of the proceeds from a typical harvest, Lai also instructed the agriculture ministry to consider increasing the aid.

Currently, cash handouts are provided in accordance with the "Regulations Governing Natural Disaster Relief for Agriculture."

Meanwhile, Vice President Hsiao traveled to Taitung, where farmers growing sugar apples, bananas, citrus, persimmons and ginger reported serious losses.

She also visited rice paddies in the Luye, Guanshan and Chihshang townships in Taitung, where Yao Chih-wang (姚志旺), deputy head of the Agriculture and Food Agency, promised the agency would procure the damaged crops from farmers.

Premier Cho flew to Orchid Island, where the typhoon caused power outages and disruptions to communications systems.

While there, Cho said an islandwide project to replace all overhead cables with underground ones, which will reduce their future vulnerability to typhoons, is expected to be completed in mid-2025, about six months ahead of schedule.

He promised the project would be completed before the next typhoon season begins.