Vice President Annette Lu, who had also spent the previous two Mid-Autumn Festivals in the quake zone, said that its people had now put their grief behind them, and their vitality was apparent. But this did not mean that the disaster could be forgotten, for reconstruction was not yet complete and continued effort was required.

The task of reconstruction is complex, and progress differs from place to place. As Vice President Lu said, some areas have not only put their grief behind them, but have revived local industry and commerce and created new opportunities, through a combination of their own efforts and outside assistance.

On the eve of the anniversary, the cabinet-level 921 Earthquake Post-Disaster Recovery Commission (ERC) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs selected ten community organizations to receive "9-21 Reconstruction Zone Community Business Revival Awards" in recognition of their contribution to local economic recovery. Whether in terms of relieving unemployment or of boosting local culture and tourism, much has been achieved in all the communities where these organizations are active.

The ERC's new executive director, Kuo Yao-chi, said that reviving business activity would have synergistic effects for reconstruction, and the most important industry to rebuild is tourism. She encouraged members of the public to visit the reconstruction zone to see the process of rebirth for themselves.

The most recent data from the ERC on the progress of reconstruction shows a completion rate of 86% for roads and bridges, 87% for public buildings and 98% for school buildings. Future efforts will focus on reconstructing multiple-unit housing, and on dismantling prefabricated emergency houses and resettling those quake victims who are still living in them.

Homeless again

However, just as the mid-autumn harvest moon approached, the issue of the prefabs' removal raised a storm.

The way the dismantling of emergency housing has been handled is indicative of the chaotic state of reconstruction work, and poor coordination between central and local government. The ERC is responsible for dismantling the prefabs, but has given over the task of relocating their remaining residents to county and city governments. Dismantling has often gone ahead before resettlement, giving rise to anger and protests.

The Legislative Yuan Reconstruction Monitoring Group (LYRMG), composed of opposition legislators, accompanied prefab residents to the Taipei Public Prosecutors Office to file a complaint against ERC executive director Kuo Yao-chi. They accused her of disregarding the provisions of the Statute on 921 Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction and forcibly implementing the dismantling of emergency housing, thereby making quake victims homeless, which they alleged constituted the criminal offences of coercion and of misconduct in public office. They also went to the Control Yuan to demand the impeachment of Kuo and of education minister Huang Jung-tsun.

Su Wei-shuo, convener of the Taiwan Housing Rights League, threatened to call an overnight protest outside the president's official residence on 9 September.

The status of the prefabs is seen as an important indicator of the progress of reconstruction. But if the government merely forces disaster victims out of the prefabs without rehousing them, this will not solve problems, but simply "disperse" them.

According to figures from the LYRMG, less than 1% has been spent of the reconstruction budgets for new neighborhood developments and individual housing projects in either of the first two phases of the reconstruction program; and only 5.39% has been spent of the rural settlements budget.

Huang Hsun-wei, chairman of the Taichung City federation of earthquake victims' associations, stated that of the 23 collapsed apartment blocks in the city, only two have been fully rebuilt, and three are under construction. Reconstruction of the rest is stalled. With the end of the three-year interest-free loan period rapidly approaching, victims are at their wits' end.

When Premier Yu Shyi-kun visited the quake zone, his way was constantly blocked by victims wishing to tell him about their plight. Yu promised that henceforth resettlement would always precede prefab dismantling, and that the three-year residence period can be extended by a further year.

Subsequently, the ERC published a "resettlement plan for disadvantaged households in emergency housing," in which it announced that public housing would be rented to earthquake victims at a discount of 30% for quake victims in general, and 65% for registered low-income families.

Can confidence change fate?

It is an undisputed fact that some reconstruction work has not been effective.

The LYRMG lambasted the government's reconstruction work in the disaster zone as ineffectual, complaining that only 21.9% of the 2001 budget had been spent. In Chungliao Rural Township, for example, there had been five changes of township chief, but rebuilding of the township administration building had still not begun.

School reconstruction is another aspect seen as indicative of progress. Of the 293 schools requiring rebuilding, 281 are complete, but of these, 108 were rebuilt after being adopted by private sector organizations.

"In fact the state has many resources at its command, but it doesn't know how to release them," says Professor Hsia Chu-chiu of National Taiwan University's Graduate Institute of Building and Planning. He say that a crucial factor in the government's failure to effectively promote reconstruction is the ERC's inability to intervene in the work of local governments. Complex formalities for inter-ministry cooperation, bureaucratic bungling and wasteful administrative procedures are also major contributing factors.

Architect Hsieh Ying-chun says that his own practice has helped quake victims rebuild 45 houses, but the related procedures are so complex that even he finds the challenge of reporting on 14 different items to nine agencies beyond him, so that to this day the families have not been able to receive the relevant subsidies.

The reconstruction zone has put its grief behind it, but the effects of the disaster can still be seen everywhere. At the 19th meeting of the ERC, Premier Yu stressed that although the ERC may be disbanded within the next three years, the work of reconstruction must be carried through to completion.

Let us hope that at next year's Mid-Autumn Festival, the harvest moon will bring only joy to families in the quake zone.