Following Tuesday night’s deadly earthquake in Hualien, the Cabinet yesterday said it is mulling a compulsory “health check-up” of older buildings and the establishment of a third-party construction supervision system to improve building safety.
The Ministry of the Interior gave a report of its post-earthquake emergency response and disaster relief measures to the Cabinet and said it is contemplating revising laws to enforce a compulsory assessment of buildings that are thought to be structurally weak, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chiu Chang-yueh (邱昌嶽) told a news conference at the Executive Yuan.
Buildings that collapsed during Tuesday’s earthquake were commercial and residential complexes, where supportive structures in the lower parts of buildings are often partially removed to make room for commercial space, meaning the structures are less earthquake resistant, Chiu said.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
Following a major earthquake in southern Taiwan on Feb. 6, 2016 that killed 117 people, including 114 when the Weiguan Jinlong complex in Tainan collapsed, the ministry launched a program to provide free assessment of buildings built before 1999, when improved construction regulations were enforced.
However, few complexes have applied for the service because residents fear that the value of their apartments would plummet if they are determined to be structurally weak, Chiu said.
The reinforcement or reconstruction of such complexes are often forestalled as the Statute for Expediting Reconstruction of Urban Unsafe and Old Buildings (都市危險及老舊建築物加速重建條例) requires the approval of all property owners to begin work, Chiu said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The ministry is mulling amendments to the statute and the Urban Renewal Act (都市更新條例) to enforce compulsory assessment for aging buildings and lower the approval threshold for reinforcement and reconstruction, Chiu said.
“We are faced with inadequate laws and lack of public awareness, and we need to make breakthroughs in those two areas. Taiwan is on a seismic belt and safety is an absolute priority,” Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said, calling on the public to prioritize building safety over real-estate profits.
The ministry has also finalized a draft amendment to the Building Act (建築法) to introduce a construction supervision system enforced by a third-party to ensure construction quality, Chiu said.
The third-party supervision system has been discussed since the collapse of the Weiguan Jinlong complex, construction of which was determined by prosecutors to be flawed.
The supervision system is aimed at ensuring the structural integrity of a building during the design and construction stages.
The draft is to be submitted as a priority bill in the new legislative session, Chiu added.
Meanwhile, Premier William Lai (賴清德) instructed the Cabinet to form a relief and reconstruction task force headed by Minister Without Portfolio Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶), which convened its first meeting yesterday afternoon in Hualien.
Lai also ordered the speedy distribution of the NT$300 million (US$10.21 million) relief fund to Hualien quake victims, while offering extra subsidies for people who need to relocate.
The ministry has assembled 50 specialists in Hualien to provide building assessments, and residents can call 1999 to book the service, Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) said.
‘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
RSS