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Typhoon Morakot: Taiwan Sends 4000 On Rescue Mission

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The military deployed more 4000 troops yesterday to rescue and deliver supplies to survivors from remote Taiwanese villages devastated by last weekend’s typhoon, but many criticized the government’s response as insufficient and too slow.
Villagers told officials who visited the worst-hit areas this week that more of their relatives could have been saved if they had moved sooner and faster.
The government said its operations have been hampered because many areas of the country were cut off when roads and bridges collapsed, though Interior Minister Liao Liao-yi said troops on foot had reached several villages Wednesday.
Until then, rescuers had relied solely on helicopters to reach the worst-hit areas, and on Thursday authorities requested larger choppers from foreign governments capable of carrying earth-moving equipment and shelters.
Some 14,000 villagers have been rescued — including 600 on Thursday — since Typhoon Morakot dumped more than 80 inches (2 meters) of rain past weekend, the island’s disaster relief center said. The storm unleashed the worst floods the island has seen in 50 years.
Another 2,000 villagers — who escaped those floods and were sheltering either in open fields or on higher ground — were still waiting to be ferried to shelters, it said. Several hundred more — no one is sure how many — remain unaccounted for and are feared lost in the mudslides.
The official death toll in Taiwan stands at 108, with 61 listed as missing. The storm also killed 22 people in the Philippines and eight in China.
The military sent 4,000 new troops on Thursday to join another 16,000 soldiers already working to save thousands of survivors stranded in several villages in the island’s south, the Defense Ministry said.
Relief officials on Thursday asked foreign governments to provide giant choppers that could carry cranes, prefabricated houses and sterilizers. Lawmakers said only the U.S. and Russia made those helicopters.
Taiwan has already received offers of financial assistance from the United States, Japan, Singapore and China.
In the southern Taiwan township of Toayuan, 500 villagers were told to run to higher ground about 30 minutes before a lake created by floodwaters and landslides burst its banks, an official said, adding that two nearby lakes were expected to burst soon.
“There would be a massive amount of water flowing down the Laonung River, and we have alerted villagers around to flee,” relief official Hsu Chin-biao said.
In the southern town of Liukuei, scores of private relief vehicles were held up along a narrow, muddy mountain road, waiting for permission to move toward the center of the heavy flooding that devastated a series of isolated villages.
Relief efforts by a number of Buddhist organizations complement the military’s work to pluck hundreds of villagers from the affected area.
But villagers complained to President Ma Ying-jeou and other leaders that the rescue operation was too slow.
“Why does the government say only useless things?” a woman anxious to learn the fate of relatives trapped in Kaochung village in the south asked. With tears filling her eyes, she told TV reporters: “I’ve been waiting for several days, yet there has not been anyone going to rescue my family.”
The mass circulation Apple Daily said Ma “failed to order the military to commit itself to relief efforts right away, and that made him an incompetent commander in chief.”
News reports said many villagers used their bare hands in the days after the mudslides to try to dig down to their buried homes in futile efforts to save their relatives.
Others sought to send messages for help.
On Wednesday, a wooden sign was seen being erected near a collapsed bridge in Hsinfa village in Kaohsiung saying “32 Buried SOS.” Rescuers rushed to the scene and tossed ropes over the river to pull several survivors to safety, according to news reports.

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NPA Assures On Staff Welfare 

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The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, has said the management will continue to accompany its port infrastructure  and equipment  modernization drive  with the development of the welfare of its personnel.
Dantsoho made the disclosure recently while responding to the commendation by the Maritime Workers Union (MWUN) and the senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies (SSASGOC) on the  clearing  of the age-long problem of employee stagnation, when the union paid him a courtesy visit at the Authority’s headquarters in Lagos.
A Statement by NPA’s General Manager Corporate & Strategic Communications, Mr. Ikechukwu Onyemekara, quoted Dantsoho as saying,  “our Port infrastructure and equipment modernization drive will go hand-in-hand with continuous staff welfare improvement”.
The NPA MD disclosed that human capital development constitutes the key strategy for creating and sustaining superior performance under his watch, adding that “talent development constitutes a critical success factor for the actualization of the big hairy audacious goals we have set for ourselves especially in the area of Port competitiveness.
“The only way we can meet and indeed exceed stakeholders’ expectations is to deepen the competencies of our human resources assets and boosting their morale.”
Speaking further, Dantsoho commended the Honourable Minister of Marine & Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, for approving the strategic proposal of the Dantsoho-led Management team that solved the over a decade-long problem of lack of promotion that had fuelled industrial disharmony.
“I must specially appreciate our amiable Minister for graciously approving the multi-pronged stratagem we deployed that cleared all outstanding cases of employee stagnation by conducting examinations in one fell swoop and instituted timelines to forestall a recurrence of such anomaly”, he sad.
Speaking on behalf of the joint maritime labour unions, the President  of Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations & Government-Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), Comrade Bodunde stated, “In addition to clearance of the backlog of stagnated promotions, we also wish to express our appreciation for the increase in productivity bonuses, provision of end-of-year welfare packages for staff, and the revision of the Financial Guide to the Condition of Service, which now addresses our members’ concerns about inflationary pressures.”
Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
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ANLCA Chieftain Emerges FELCBA’s VP

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National Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Elder Olumide Fakanlu, has been elected Vice President of the Federation of ECOWAS Licensed Customs Brokers Association (FELCBA).
The election took place during the FELCBA Congress, held from Tuesday, June 17th to Thursday, June 19th, 2025, in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Fakanlu’s emergence as Vice President marks a significant achievement for Nigeria within the regional customs brokerage community.
Apart from Fakanlu, Secretary of the Seme Chapter of ANLCA, Austin Nwosu, was also elected, securing the role of Secretary of Relations with Institutions.
The Nigerian delegation played an active role in the congress, with Michael Ebeatu nominated as a member of the electoral officer team, ensuring a fair and transparent election process.
The three-day congress concluded with delegates undertaking a visit to the Sierra Leone Port, offering insights into the host nation’s maritime operations, followed by a recreational trip to the Tokeh Beach.
The newly elected executives are expected to lead FELCBA in its efforts to harmonize customs brokerage practices, promote trade facilitation, and advocate for the interests of licensed customs brokers across the ECOWAS sub-region.
Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
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NSC, Police Boost Partnership On Port Enforcement 

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In a bid to enhance more enforcement in the nation’s Port, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has reaffirmed its commitment to stronger inter-agency collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
The Council said the collaboration is aimed at enhancing stronger enforcement, compliance and improve operational efficiency across Nigeria’s ports.
Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of  NSC, Dr. Pius Akutah, made this known during a visit to the  Inspector-General of Police, Dr. Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.
The visit, which he said, focused on strengthening institutional synergy, comes in the wake of growing responsibilities for the NSC under the newly created Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.
Akutah emphasized the critical role of security agencies in supporting port operations and ensuring regulatory compliance.
He called for the posting of police officers to assist the Council’s monitoring and enforcement teams at key port locations including Lagos, Warri, Onne, Port Harcourt, and Calabar.
“The posting will complement the activities of our revived task teams and enhance our ability to enforce standards across the maritime logistics chain”, he said.
Earlier, the Inspector-General of Police, Dr. Egbetokun, assured the Council of the Force’s readiness to continue supporting the growth of the maritime sector.
The IGP acknowledged that compliance enforcement is essential to the successful implementation of Nigeria’s Blue Economy objectives.
“The NSC and NPF are expected to deepen collaboration in the months ahead, with a shared focus on building a secure, efficient, and competitive port environment”, to the IGP emphasized.
Chinedu Wosu
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