In news from about Taiwan this morning,

Transport Minister Wang Kwo-tsai says estimates show that funding to repair
tourism-related facilities and infrastructure in Hualien following the April
3 earthquake stands at more than 3-billion N-T.

According to Wang, three rounds of stimulus initiatives for the county's
tourism sector have been proposed by the Tourism Administration, the first on
which focuses mainly on essential disaster relief.

Wang says the second phase of the plan covers funding for people whose homes
were damaged or destroyed, while the third and final initiative will seek to
subsidize individual and group tours to Hualien after facilities and
infrastructure have been fully repaired.

The transport minister says his office and the Tourism Administration will be
submitting the plan to Cabinet soon and he expects it to be approved and
implemented sometime next month.

The statements come after Interior Minister Lin Yu-chang earlier this week
told lawmakers that post-earthquake restoration work at the Taroko National
Park alone will cost roughly 1-billion N-T.