President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said on Tuesday that Taiwan’s ongoing efforts to promote solar-powered LED lighting in Africa could bring new life to Taiwan’s troubled LED and solar power industries.
Referring to the “A Light for Africa” project in Burkina Faso that Taipei is sponsoring, Ma said Taiwan’s ultimate goal is to allow all the students from 11,000 elementary schools in Burkina Faso to own one of the Taiwan-provided lights.
“‘A Light for Africa’ can probably create a different industry,” said Ma, who is in the West African country on a state visit.
Ma said the landlocked country has a serious power shortage, with only 15 percent of locations in the capital receiving sufficient electricity supplies at night.
Under these circumstances, each Burkinabe family needs at least one solar-powered LED light, which could translate to commercial opportunities, Ma said.
“A light costing US$10 may be the hope of the future” for Burkinabes, he said.
Under the project, photovoltaic power-generating systems have been installed in participating schools and each student has been given an LED lighting kit equipped with a rechargeable battery that lasts four-and-a-half hours. The children can recharge their lamps at school and take them home to use at night.
Ma toured two elementary schools that have benefited from the project. He later went to the home of one of the students at night and said he was touched to see four children lying on a mat studying under their light provided by Taiwan.
Ma also said he felt ashamed about Taiwan’s wasteful use of electricity after seeing how Burkinabes cherish their scarce resources.
‘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
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
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
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
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