Taipei is suspending all use of powder and dust products at public events and is considering a general ban on all combustible powders and dust products, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
The comments were in response to reporters’ questions on Ko’s stance on the matter after Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) announced the temporary suspension of the use of colored powder in public events while safety issues are investigated.
A dust explosion on Saturday at Formosa Fun Coast in New Taipei City started a fire that injured hundreds of people, officials said.
Photo: Huang Chieh, Taipei Times
Ko made the statements at a lunch hosted by Democratic Progressive Party Legislative Yuan hopeful Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) in Tainan’s Yongkang District (永康).
Suspending the use of a product after an emergency before looking into what can be done better is standard operating procedure, Ko said, adding that if the use of powder products is allowed in the future, they must be noncombustible.
Separately, Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Derek Chen (陳金德) said that while he had prohibited the use of colored powder during his tenure as head of the municipal government’s Environmental Protection Bureau two years ago, it was over environmental concerns.
Photo: Huang Chieh, Taipei Times
Significant support in 2013 for a “Color Run” in Taipei and Taichung led to plans for one in Kaohsiung last year.
However, the bureau’s decision led to its cancelation.
In light of Saturday’s incident, applications for events in Kaohsiung that would use colored powder will not be approved, Chen said, adding that private events should not use such powders to improve safety.
Chen said Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) had spoken with New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) about the issue and pledged that Kaohsiung was prepared to aid patients.
Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and the E-Da Hospital had taken in three patients who were transferred from northern Taiwan, Chen Chin-te said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS