The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) has earmarked NT$31.6 billion to implement the "Keelung River Overall Improvement Project" and has been conducting a series of measures to reduce flooding and protect the safety of residents in low-lying areas around the country, a CEPD spokesman said yesterday.
The spokesman said that as the country is prone to typhoons and often suffers damage from the strong wind and torrential rain brought by typhoons, the CEPD has made water management and flood prevention one of its main goals.
Noting that in the past the CEPD has focused its water treatment efforts on construction work, the spokesman said that to keep abreast of environmental protection trends, it had adjusted its strategy and adopted the measure of integrated catchment management with the aim of creating sustainable water resources.
PROTECTING RESIDENTS
Citing the "Keelung River Overall Improvement Project" as an example, the spokesman said the CEPD allocated NT$316 billion between 2002 and 2005 for the project, which he said includes measures to divert water from the upstream section of the river and to conduct dredging of the downstream section designed to protect the river from flooding for 200 years and protect the safety as well as property of the 2 million residents in the greater Taipei area.
The spokesman said that during the construction of the Yuansantze Diversion System -- the main part of the project -- in 2004, the system was activated three times to make emergency diversions to lower the high water level caused by a Sept. 11 rainstorm followed by typhoons Nock-ten and Nanmadol later that year.
FLOODWATER
When Typhoon Krosa hit the nation on Oct. 6 last year, another flood diversion was conducted to maintain a safe water level, the spokesman said, adding that up to 15.6 million tonnes of floodwater had been diverted into the sea.
From 2005 in central Taiwan, the government has implemented the third stage of a flood control construction project on Tali River (
This project, which was constructed at a cost of NT$25.7 billion and stretches over 36.3km, is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.
The government has budgeted NT$50 billion for a Kaoping River (
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
POLICY UNCHANGED? Despite Trump’s remarks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured that US policy toward Taiwan has remained consistent since the 1970s US President Donald Trump on Wednesday again refused to make clear his stance on protecting Taiwan from a hypothetical takeover by China during his presidency. Asked by a reporter during a Cabinet meeting whether it was his policy that China would never take Taiwan by force while he is president, Trump declined to give a definitive answer. “I never comment on that,” he said. “I don’t comment on it because I don’t want to ever put myself in that position.” Trump also reiterated that he has a “great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and said that Washington welcomes good relations with
RSS