President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday expressed dissatisfaction with the Taipei County Government over a delayed flood prevention project during an inspection of the construction and asked Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) to present a comprehensive proposal to combat flooding in the county soon.
After Tropical Storm Kalmaegi and Typhoon Fung-wong caused severe flooding last month and sparked criticism of inadequate flood prevention measures across the country, Ma, accompanied by Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) and several other Cabinet members, inspected a stalled flood prevention project at Taliaokeng River (塔寮坑溪) in Sindian (新店), Taipei County, and were briefed on the county’s flood prevention plans yesterday.
Chou and Taipei County Deputy Commissioner Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源) acknowledged that flood prevention work on the river was inadequate, but blamed the problem on former commissioner Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and the Water Resources Agency, which they said had failed to draw up a comprehensive plan.
“We are carrying out the old flood prevention project as drafted by Su Tseng-chang’s administration,” Chou said.
The flood prevention project for the river was drafted and approved during Su’s administration in 2005 with a budget of NT$4.8 billion (US$150 million). Chou has requested an increased budget of NT$14.9 billion to expand the scope of the project.
Ma said he supported the county government’s plans to expand the project, but questioned the need to stop the construction work in the meantime.
“I don’t see why we need to halt the construction until the new project [plan] comes. I need the Taipei County Government to present its new plan in a month,” Ma said.
Ma also called on the Executive Yuan and the Water Resources Agency to re-examine flood prevention projects countrywide.
In response, Lee questioned the effectiveness of the government’s flood prevention efforts and suggested that the government should not spend money on building pump stations and dikes in parts of the south, including Yunlin, Chiayi and Nantou counties, as some areas have been sinking over the years.
The government should solve this problem before pouring money into flood prevention works, Lee said.
The Ma administration has come under fire following deadly flooding and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Kalmaegi. In response, Liu has promised to spend NT$500 billion to expropriate riverside land to dredge rivers.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
MILITARY EXERCISES: China is expected to conduct more drills in the region after President William Lai’s office announced he would stopover in Hawaii and Guam China is likely to launch military drills in the coming days near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming trip to the Pacific and scheduled US transit as a pretext, regional security officials said. Lai is to begin a visit to Taipei’s three diplomatic allies in the Pacific on Saturday, and sources told Reuters he was planning stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam in a sensitive trip shortly after the US presidential election. Lai’s office has yet to confirm details of what are officially “stop-overs” in the US, but is expected to do so shortly before he departs, sources
Tasa Meng Corp (采盟), which runs Taiwan Duty Free, could be fined up to NT$1 million (US$30,737) after the owner and employees took center stage in a photograph with government officials and the returning Premier12 baseball champions at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Monday evening. When Taiwan’s national baseball team arrived home fresh from their World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 championship victory in Tokyo, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) was at the airport with Chinese Professional Baseball League commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) to welcome back the team. However, after Hsiao and Tsai took a photograph with the team, Tasa Meng chairwoman Ku
RSS