TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Tuesday backed plans to expand flood-control facilities near Kun Shan University in Tainan after heavy rain flooded roads around the campus.
Lai inspected conditions outside the university’s main gate and received briefings from Tainan’s Water Resources Bureau and Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲), per CNA. He said the flooding showed that further improvements were needed despite years of investment in flood-control infrastructure.
Lai said more than 50,000 hectares of Tainan were flooded during Typhoon Morakot, compared with about 400 hectares during the latest rainfall despite similar cumulative precipitation, per Liberty Times. He attributed the reduction to cooperation between central and local governments and investment in flood-control infrastructure.
Lai said improvements around Kun Shan University during his tenure as Tainan mayor included widening and deepening the Sanye River, raising embankments, reducing the number of piers at Wandai Bridge, and leasing university land for a pumping station.
Lai said he supported plans to build a drainage channel to the pumping station and underground detention facilities on university land, with the Ministry of the Interior and Water Resources Agency providing budget support. Huang said the city also plans to install box culverts along Kunda Road and work with the university on an underground detention basin and forebay, potentially combining the facilities with parking or recreational space.
