Educational facility typhoon damage estimated at NT$260 million

Taipei, July 9 (CNA) The Ministry of Education's (MOE) preliminary estimates of the damage done to educational facilities across Taiwan was around NT$260 million (US$8.93 million) as of Tuesday at 6 p.m., Education Minister Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said Wednesday.

Speaking to the media before a national education meeting in Chiayi City, Cheng said the ministry's K-12 Education Administration has launched emergency mechanisms and allocated funds to areas hit hardest by the typhoon.

Of the funds disbursed, Tainan and Chiayi County both received NT$4.5 million, Chiayi City has received NT$1.8 million, and Changhua County has received NT$3 million, Cheng said.

He pledged to relay any requests for funding from other municipalities to the Executive Yuan, and hoped schools could resume their operations as soon as possible.

Chiayi City Mayor Huang Ming-hui (黃敏惠) felt more needed to be done after the city said 31 schools were damaged by the disaster and an estimated NT$35 million will be needed for repairs.

Huang said the city government is working to restore power in areas experiencing power outages so that national examinations can run smoothly.

She was referring to the Qualifying Examination for Senior Examinations and Qualifying Examinations for Junior Examinations, which were originally scheduled for July 6-8 but postponed to July 8-10 because of the typhoon.

Huang urged cooperation between the central and local governments to address the problem.

Typhoon Danas made landfall in Budai Township in Chiayi County late Sunday, leaving two people dead and 502 injured, before weakening into a tropical storm early Monday. It had moved north of Taiwan by Monday evening,