Reconstruction in the farming sector

◆Fruit orchards: Reconstruction of 197 hectares of facilities for growing fruit (papaya).

◆Flowers: Reconstruction of 8.23 hectares of facilities for growing flowers and repair of 7.86 hectares of facilities for producing orchids, for a total of 16.09 hectares. Also, subsidies for restoration of orchid seedling cultivation on 108,840 square meters.

◆Vegetables: Reconstruction of 159.18 hectares of facilities for vegetable production.

◆Special-use products: Guidance of farmers’ associations in the repair or replacement of damaged tea plantations, equipment used in tea harvesting, and machinery used in tea processing, including subsidies for: restoration of 51.3 hectares of tea plantations; reconstruction of 19 tea factories; 66 water-collecting ponds; 136 water pumps; and 35 machines for tea processing. Also, reconstruction of one site for the production of aloe for the aiyu jelly industry.

◆Rice: Assistance to ten rice seedling producers in Tainan City and Pingtung County for replacing 15 machines damaged as a result of flooding or mudslides, including seed spreaders, automatic tray arrangers, automatic tray collectors, and clod crushers.

◆Transportation and marketing: Subsidies for rebuilding, renovation or repair of 42,900 square meters of warehouse space; 6765 square meters of freezer space; 520 machines for grading, packaging, and processing; 70 trucks; and internal operational equipment for fresh-food supermarkets at 34 locations.

◆Fertilizer storage: Repair or renovation of 32 fertilizer storage warehouses.

RECONSTRUCTION IN THE FORESTRY SECTOR

Improvement in the Alishan National Park Forest Recreation Area

We continued to work on relocation of the gas station, construction of a new transport center at the entrance, a basic market, vendors in the Mt. Fu sunrise observation area, a visitor service center, improvements in the Xianglin service area, and reconstruction of the Zhaoping train station. In August, operation of the tour buses in the park area was commissioned to a private rental company.

Restoration work on the Alishan Forest Railway

In June work was completed on the Chiayi to Fenqihu section of the Alishan Forest Railway. Also, it was decided that reconstruction in the Fenqihu to Alishan section would be by tunnel, and it is estimated that work will be completed in 2013.

Follow-up management of barrier lakes

Work was continued to dredge the barrier lakes formed at two locations, Shiwen and Qishan River, and they have both been successfully turned into natural water channels. We also stepped up training exercises for monitoring, response, and evacuation, and in July and October, respectively, removed these two areas from listing as restricted zones. We also conducted training of forest rangers and debris-flow disaster-prevention specialists to improve professionalism and skill levels.

Promoting reuse of driftwood

In July of 2011, the COA held the Centennial International Wood Carving Event. Fifty artists from nine countries participated, and the event attracted 34,954 visits. The COA has also founded the Sunrise Driftwood Workshop, where Aboriginal people from the Taitung area have received training on 41 occasions. We have assisted students in setting up four woodworking studios, and assisted them in selling their products, organizing a cooperative production and marketing mechanism, and developing wood art as a cultural and creative industry.

Reconstruction in the fisheries sector

In 2011 the COA continued with aquaculture infrastructure projects in the disaster area. A total of 30 kilometers of water channels (for both water supply and drainage) were cleared of debris, 16,762 meters of water channels and 8450 meters of roads were reconstructed, and 12,295 meters of water supply pipelines were installed, to create conditions that will encourage local operators to invest in recovery of their industry.

All projects for the current phase of reconstruction have been completed. In the future, reconstruction work will involve mainly planning and reshaping of the environment around aquaculture zones in the disaster area, including: building new seawater supply facilities in Pingtung and Kaohsiung, enlarging the area covered by seawater supply pipelines, and steadily renovating the channels for supply and drainage of water in aquaculture production zones. We will advise local operators to change over to raising high-unit- price saltwater fish, which will reduce dependence of drawing of underground freshwater, which will in turn prevent the land subsidence that makes fish ponds in such areas vulnerable to inundation by heavy rains or excessively high ocean tides.

Reconstruction in the animal husbandry sector

Cash payments for post-disaster relief totaling NT$220 million were distributed to 961 households, and nearly NT$50 million was given out under case-by-case guidance measures for particular industries to 545 households. Through our efforts to assist households in the animal husbandry sector to rebuild after the disaster, we quickly restored livestock and poultry production, maintained a balance of supply and demand in the market, restored orderly production and marketing, and maintained price stability.

The COA also organized special teams of technical advisors which, since the disaster, have been called out on 182 occasions, and have provided services 459 times. We have also been implementing plans for reconstruction of the animal husbandry sector, promoting an innovative, high-efficiency production system that will hasten upgrading of the industry.

RESTORATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL ASSETS

Prevention of future disasters through rehabilitation of the environment

Proper land and water management is the best way to minimize the impact of natural events like typhoons. To this end, the COA has been doing soil-and-water conservation, land restoration, rural road repair, and improved monitoring, with the goal being to prevent or minimize debris-flow disasters. From 2009 through the end of 2011, we managed 1734 projects capable of stabilizing 29.23 million cubic meters of soil and sand over an area of 316,000 hectares.

Rural community planning and reconstruction

Taking into account the special characteristics of the communities in the disaster area, we have laid out community reconstruction plans for 105 locations. We have completed community infrastructure like road surface improvements, drainage improvements, and barrier treelines. Employing 274 persons from the disaster area, we have been implementing rural community reconstruction projects. Besides helping residents of the disaster area economically, we have rapidly cleaned up and beautified the community environments, improved community production and the living environment, consolidated community consciousness, and rapidly restored the vitality and functions essential for daily life in the rural communities in the disaster area.

Reconstruction of infrastructure in farmland consolidation areas

In 2011 the COA continued to implement the reconstruction plan for irrigation facilities and farm roads and waterways in farmland consolidation areas. We used a surplus of NT$66.823 million remaining after all contracts had been handed out to add six additional projects in Gaoshu Township, in the jurisdiction of the Pingtung Irrigation Association. We also approved two reconstruction projects for farm roads and waterways in farmland consolidation areas in Jialan and Taimali in Taitung County (total funding was NT$100.760 million). These projects should restore road safety, the smooth functioning of irrigation works, and the productivity of farming in areas affected by Typhoon Morakot, allowing farmers to replant their land as early as possible.