Agricultural losses from Typhoon Morakot had soared to NT$12.27 billion (US$373 million) as of yesterday morning, figures released by the Council of Agriculture showed.
The council said that Morakot, which pummeled Taiwan from Aug. 7 to Aug. 9, caused serious damage to agriculture in 11 counties, with Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties the hardest hit.
CROPS, FISH
Damage to crops amounted to NT$3.99 billion, with 27 percent of crops on 72,345 hectares of farmland wiped out.
Banana crops suffered the heaviest damage, with 5,945 hectares ravaged by strong winds and flooding.
Damage to the aquaculture sector amounted to NT$4.13 billion, the heaviest loss in 19 years. Some 8,845 hectares of fish ponds and coastal fish farms were lost, it said.
LIVESTOCK
Some 138,000 pigs, nearly 600,000 chickens and more than 132,000 ducks perished in floods and mudslides, representing an economic loss of NT$1.42 billion.
Farmers who suffered heavy losses can apply for cash relief or low-interest loans from the government under the Agricultural Natural Disaster Relief Regulations (農業天然災害救助辦法), council officials said.
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
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
RSS