The army pitched in with the city-wide disinfection job in Taipei yesterday by mobilizing a unit specializing in chemicals to help stem the spread of SARS, a military police source said.
A total of 1,210 soldiers from the 6th Army Corps, riding on 50 T486 light-chemical vehicles and 10 chemical pumpers, began disinfection work in Wanhua District,where two hospitals have been sealed off because of the appearance of SARS cases.
The army was called in by Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
The 6th Army Corps was supported in their efforts by 500 military police, who helped keep public order, and 450 police officers who helped direct traffic.
In their disinfection campaign, the soldiers will clean up main roads, streets, alleyways, school campuses and community areas throughout the Wanhua District.
After finishing with Wanhua District, the disinfection campaign will move to other districts around the city through Monday, going to Chungcheng, Tatung, Chungshan, Hsinyi, Sungshan, Nankang, Neihu, Shihlin, Peitou, Wenshan and Taan districts, in that order,, according to the MP sources.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the