TAIPEI: As Taiwan faces the heavy toll exacted by typhoon Morakot, the director-general of the Water Resources Agency (WRA), Chen Shen-hsien, said he accepts blame for the damage on the southern part of the island and is ready to step down.

Speaking to the China News Agency, Chen said that the agency will reassess its flood control and prevention standards. He added that if anyone must bear criticism, it must be he.

"I'm always ready. When the flood relief work is over, I'll take the responsibility I should take," he said.

The worst flooding to hit southern Taiwan in 50 years has raised doubts concerning the effectiveness of WRA's flood prevention system. The agency is four years into an eight-year, NT$80 billion program of revamping water management in areas susceptible to flooding.

Chen stressed the scheme has had some effect. While pledging attention to the flooding problem, Chen pleaded for realistic expectations for flood prevention to be set. The rainfall brought by Morakot was the worst in 200 years, Chen said.

While pledging to do all possible to prevent such devastation in the future, he argued, there are limits to flood control programs. Dams built for locally-administered rivers are designed according to the highest water level in 50 years and dams for centrally-administered rivers, 100 years, Chen said.

For floods of unprecedented level, the only thing a government can do is to evacuate people through more precise forecasts, he said.

Citing the US as an example, Chen said the US government learned a lesson from the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina and thereafter began to evacuate people before foreseeable disasters. In one instance, as many as 2 million were evacuated, he said.

The WRA along with the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) were given orders from Taiwan's leader Ma Ying-jeou to review their disaster prevention efforts.

Ma Sunday demanded that other government agencies also review their programs aimed at preventing civil disasters.

CWB officials argued previously that it was difficult to predict the amount of rainfall brought by Morakot. The most advanced facilities, which would cost Taiwan billions to purchase, would improve forecasting ability by only three hours, the agency said.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 08/11/2009 page2)