To show his concern for the progress of post-Morakot reconstruction work in Alishan Township, CEO Chern Jenn-Chuan of the Reconstruction Council visited Pnguu permanent housing site, today in the company of Pnguu village chief Chen Youfu and other village residents. Located at 1,400m above sea level, this is the highest altitude housing site in Taiwan. Chern thanked the onsite work crew for their hard work and commended them for the progress made despite inconvenient transportation in the mountains and numerous days of heavy rainfall. He also asked that the site’s public infrastructure and permanent housing contractors work with one another to increase the amount of staff and machinery so that residents can move in as soon as possible while still ensuring construction quality and safety. This will complete the last piece of the puzzle in rehabilitation reconstruction. After his visit to the base, Chern attended the village’s Sunday service to thank the villagers for working so hard with the government and NGOs throughout the arduous process of rebuilding homes which are better and safer than before. This trip was also fully documented by a camera crew from the National Geographic Channel.

Chern said that the core principles of safety, respect, efficiency, and innovation have guided post-disaster reconstruction work in the wake of Typhoon Morakot. The Pnguu site is the best example of how safety can be ensured while respecting the wishes of residents. While most permanent housing sites represent a move from the mountains to the plains, some Pnguu villagers insisted on returning to their ancestral residence. They elected to move from an altitude of 700m to 1,400m, to forest compartment 152 located near Tashan. Though numerous obstacles arose from safety related issues during the site location selection process, joint effort under government and the clansman, 6 hectares suitable for permanent housing construction was located in the nearly 160 hectare forest compartment. Construction began on December 19th, 2013.

Construction of the permanent housing site was facilitated through the Reconstruction Council’s coordination of NT$12,770 million from disaster relief foundations. The World Vision Taiwan Foundation was entrusted with the task of constructing 42 permanent housing units. The site was developed based on the principle of “low density, low intensity”, as stilt housing. In addition, Jiayi County Government allocated more than NT$270 million of its post-Morakot special budget for public infrastructure relating to the site, including construction of a water supply system and access road. Due to the impact of continuous rain in the mountains and the simultaneous construction of other projects, progress on this permanent housing site fell slightly behind schedule at 62% complete. Chern also asked that contractors increase the number of staff and machinery on site and adjust construction time and scheduling according to weather conditions, so as to complete construction as soon as possible, allowing residents to move in, while still ensuring construction quality and safety.

NGC documented the process of constrction of Pnguu permanent housing

CEO Chern explained the construct of permanent housing to the villagers