A cross-party legislative panel yesterday called on the state-run China Shipbuilding Corp (CSC) to crack down on employees linked to sloppy construction work at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Four members of the committee that is probing alleged corruption by fellow lawmakers undertook another fact-finding trip yesterday to the embattled company's headquarters in Kaohsiung.
China Shipbuilding is in charge of building the power plant's reactor pedestal, in which experts have found serious construction flaws.
Sisy Chen (陳文茜), an independent lawmaker and member of the ad-hoc panel, said the panel had to ask China Shipbuilding to supply more documents for their investigation, as the documents previously provided are of little use.
Chen, along with colleagues Lin Kuo-hua (林國華) of the DPP, Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) of the KMT and Huang Chung-yung (黃宗源) from the TSU, had a closed-door conversation with CSC Chairman Hsu Chiang (徐強).
In mid-June, TSU Legislator Su Ying-kwei (蘇盈貴) claimed that certain DPP lawmakers were involved in the scandal. Su said he could back up his charges with evidence contained in CSC documents.
Hsu, who took over the helm of the CSC on July 1, admitted that the firm is in need of sweeping reforms.
He added that the company's employees demonstrate a lack of competence in areas such as bidding, pricing, writing contracts and executing contractual obligations.
Chen urged Hsu to beef up efforts to weed out negligent officials, saying that the resignations of the CSC's former chairman and general manager was not enough.
The legislature set up a panel to look into the matter after three DPP lawmakers, Liang Mu-yang (
Chen said she hoped the new CSC chief would track down crooked employees and turn them over to law enforcement officers.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
The Civil Aviation Administration yesterday said that it is considering punishments for China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines for making hard landings and overworking their cabin crew when the nation was hit by Typhoon Kong-rey in October last year. The civil aviation authority launched an investigation after media reported that many airlines were forced to divert their flights to different airports or go around after failing to land when the typhoon affected the nation on Oct. 30 and 31 last year. The agency reviewed 503 flights dispatched by Taiwanese airlines during those two days, as well as weather data, flight hours
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Three people have had their citizenship revoked after authorities confirmed that they hold Chinese ID cards, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday. Two of the three people were featured in a recent video about Beijing’s “united front” tactics by YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), including Su Shi-en (蘇士恩), who displayed a Chinese ID card in the video, and taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲), who mentioned he had obtained a Chinese ID card in a telephone call with Chen, Liang told the council’s weekly news conference. Lee, who reportedly worked in