The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday called on the Ministry of the Interior to promote legislation governing amusement ride rentals after seven people were injured by a ride in Hsinchu City last month.
A swing ride at the Big City Shopping Mall was suddenly accelerated by staff on April 1, injuring a boy who was flung off his seat and six adults who tried to rescue him.
The boy’s mother, surnamed Huang (黃), yesterday told a news conference at the NPP caucus office in Taipei that her son received eight stitches, adding that several passers-by, her husband and herself were also injured.
Following the accident, she found that the rental company that provided the ride had also supplied a go kart that caught fire in Hsinchu County in February, causing burns to 75 percent of the driver’s body, Huang said.
She urged the government to pass legislation governing amusement ride rentals, adding that she has filed a lawsuit against the mall.
“It has been more than a month since the accident, but the government has only reached out to us once, when the Hsinchu City Government told us by telephone that amusement ride rentals are not regulated by any law. They recommended that we reach a settlement with the rental company,” Huang said.
While preparing for the lawsuit, they found that the company is the biggest amusement ride rental firm in Taiwan and has supplied rides for various night markets, as well as Christmasland in New Taipei City, said Huang’s attorney Lien Yu-ting (連郁婷), who is running for Hsinchu County councilor in the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections.
“The Executive Yuan in August last year held a meeting to discuss ways to regulate amusement ride rentals, but the related ministries all tried to dodge their responsibilities,” Lien said. “It was not until after the swing ride accident that the Executive Yuan finally assigned the Ministry of the Interior as the regulatory authority for amusement ride rentals.”
So far, the ministry has held only one meeting on the issue and although it has said that it would draft legislation to govern amusement rides, no details or a time frame have been revealed, Lien said.
The company testified to a prosecutor that the rides were modified after they were imported from China, said NPP Hsinchu Chapter head Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智), who is also Huang’s attorney.
The company also told prosecutors that the equipment did not go through any distributors and had not been inspected or tested by any government agencies, he added.
It has been almost two months since the accident and the Legislative Yuan only yesterday reviewed a bill to regulate children’s playgrounds, NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said.
Until the bill is passed, local government should regulate amusement ride rentals according to the Consumer Protection Act (消費者保護法), he said.
They should also set down more detailed local regulations to protect the safety of children in playgrounds, he added.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
RSS