The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday ordered Kaohsiung's Department of Mass Rapid Transit Systems to halt the construction of the troubled Orange Line between Hsitzuwan and Yangchengpu stations following an accident on Monday.
The ministry also demanded that the department submit a report on the circumstances of the incident within two weeks.
"The bureau must ensure the safety of the public before construction can resume," Vice Minister of Transportation and Communications Tsai Tui (蔡堆) said at a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
Outgoing Department of Mass Rapid Transit Systems director-general Chou Li-liang (
Monday's accident led to the evacuation of 24 residents and forced the bureau to demolish four buildings above the construction site.
Chou said the bureau had done its best in applying risk management procedures. For this accident, he said, workers and equipment were deployed to stop the gushing water within 30 minutes. Within six hours, the bureau had torn down the buildings, he said.
Although it was the fourth site accident in three months, officials said that hazards in civil engineering could only be minimized, not eliminated.
"There is no such thing as risk-free construction. Our technicians have tried every possible way to ensure construction safety," Chou said.
Chou, who took charge of the MRT project six years ago, said that this accident, unlike previous incidents, had a political edge.
"My personal observation is that a simple accident has been politicized. In the run-up to the year-end legislative elections, some people are wanting to blow up the issue to attack Mayor Frank Hsieh (
Whatever the aftermath, politicking seems to be of little interest to those inconvenienced by the affair.
"We only care about how the city government can protect the rights of those affected to compensation, a compensation that covers the evicted residents' financial damages and psychological losses," said Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏), secretary-general of the Consumers' Foundation.
Cheng said that the department had fallen short of informing the public of potential dangers.
"The public has the right to know that the site was more likely to cave in because of its sandy, sedimentary soil. Why didn't the bureau inform the locals near the site beforehand?" he asked.
The foundation demanded that the government name other construction areas at risk and urged it to take on a larger role in the project.
"Shouldn't the government be reviewing every blueprint to ensure some quality of construction while it is dumping taxpayers' money into this money pit?" Cheng asked.
The Kaohsiung City Government and the ministry are providing NT$150.9 billion out of the total NT$181.3 billion required.
Construction companies including local firm Dashin Engineering and the Japan-based Shimizu Construction Co are jointly investing NT$30.4 billion in the project.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and