The Nanfangao Bridge (南方澳橋) in Yilan County’s Suao Township (蘇澳), which collapsed on Tuesday, was only inspected once — by the county government — in the 21 years it was open, said Taiwan International Ports Corp (TIPC) chairman Wu Chung-rung (吳宗榮), whose resignation was provisionally accepted yesterday.
After construction of the bridge was completed in 1998, it was turned over to the Keelung Port Bureau — the predecessor of the TIPC’s Port of Keelung — Wu told the Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee in Taipei.
State-run TIPC was created in 2012, but since then the bridge was only inspected “that one time” by Taoyuan’s Chien Hsin University of Science and Technology, he said, referring to an inspection commissioned by the Yilan County Government and carried out by the university in 2016.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Of the 17 bridges under the company’s jurisdiction, one is the Nanfangao Bridge, three were built last year, five have been inspected and eight have never been inspected, he said.
The company is to inspect the eight bridges, all of which are in central or southern Taiwan, within three months, he said.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said that he had accepted Wu’s resignation.
Photo: CNA
While he has accepted the resignation, the company “has its own administrative procedures that we must also respect,” Lin said.
“Right now, our top priority is to ... deal with the aftermath,” he said. “No matter what the cause [of the incident] was ... we must express our apologies to the nation’s people and take responsibility,” he told the committee.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津), who is a convener of the committee, proposed a bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to integrate the management of Taiwan’s bridges.
There are 29,811 bridges in Taiwan — 3,698 managed by the Directorate-General of Highways, 2,753 managed by the Freeway Bureau, 21,526 managed by local governments, 17 managed by TIPC, 1,797 managed by the Taiwan Railways Administration and 20 managed by Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp, Yeh said.
Of the bridges, she is “more concerned” about the 21,526 under the jurisdiction of local governments, Yeh said, describing them as “untimed bombs.”
She does not want to see any further bridge incidents resulting in death or injury, she said.
Integration is needed regardless of whether a bridges’ bureau is formed, she said.
Lin said the ministry would consider the proposal.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College