The Taipei City Government completed a safety inspection of all hotels in the city built before 1975 yesterday and plans to spend NT$10 million (US$290,000) on subsidies for the hotels to improve their safety measures and fittings.
The city-wide inspection was conducted after a fire at the Paihsueh Hotel earlier this month killed seven people and left one person injured.
The 36-year-old hotel, located in Taipei’s Datong District (大同), was one of the 85 hotels in the city built before 1975.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the city government’s task force spent two weeks completing the safety inspection and would assist hotels that have violated regulations to improve their safety infrastructure.
Taipei’s Building Administration Office said about 20 hotels were found to have illegal structures or were lacking fire escapes.
The city government would encourage them to upgrade their safety facilities, including fire escapes, and improve their appearance and interior decoration, Hau said yesterday during an inspection of two municipal hotels.
Hau said the city government was in the process of drafting new regulations to enhance building safety rules. Construction regulations put in place in the 1960s only require hotels to have one emergency exit.
Older hotels, including the Paihsueh Hotel, followed the outdated construction regulations and that made it difficult for guests to escape, he said.
Hau urged hoteliers to cooperate with the government and enhance the safety of visitors.
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