Acting Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) yesterday said that his top priority would be to deal with the challenges facing the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) following a deadly derailment of a Puyuma Express train on Oct. 21.
Wang yesterday officially became the acting minister following the resignation of former minister of transportation and communications Wu Hong-mo (吳宏謀) on Saturday last week.
Wu, who was in office for 141 days, is one of three Cabinet members whose resignations were approved by Premier William Lai (賴清德) after the Democratic Progressive Party suffered major losses in Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections.
In his final interview with the media as minister, Wu said that his next move would be to take a break and reflect on his shortcomings.
As the ministry’s employees bid him farewell with a round of applause, Wu bowed and encouraged them to press on and not let the public down.
Regarding the issues facing the TRA, Wang said that the agency has been in operation for 130 years and would soon undergo an organizational overhaul.
In the meantime, the agency would have to improve the maintenance of its facilities, he said.
The agency’s operational safety committee would be transformed into the operational safety department, a move that aims to regain the public’s trust in the agency, Wang said.
Half of the budget allocated from the Executive Yuan’s Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program would be used to improve the agency’s operational efficiency, he said.
It is critical that the agency make good use of the funding by itemizing problematic equipment, from pantographs, cables and railway tracks to automatic train protection systems and air compressors, he added.
Several mayors and county commissioners have begun reassessing the projects listed in the development program that are within their jurisdictions, Wang said, adding that construction projects must meet the needs and demands of local residents and that the Ministry of Transportation and Communications is optimistic about the implementation of the program.
Asked about the family members of the derailment’s victims who have expressed dissatisfaction, particularly about the compensation offered by the agency, Wang said that they want to know the reason behind the derailment.
The agency would compensate the families based on precedent, he said.
Calling himself an “errand boy,” Wang said that as acting minister he would make sure that work at the ministry continues as it was, adding that the ministry has much more qualified individuals to assume the post of minister.
Taiwanese barista Xie Yi-chen (謝溢宸) recently triumphed at the 2024 World Coffee Championships, taking home 1st place in the World Latte Art category. Xie, 28, impressed the judges in the final round with patterns of a whale, a moose, and a dragon in the three-day competition that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark from June 27-29, clinching the title of latte art world champion during his first time representing Taiwan on the world stage. At a press conference held by the Taiwan Coffee Association on Thursday, Xie said that creating latte art gives him a tremendous feeling of achievement. Speaking about his entries in
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The annual Taipei Summer Festival, which starts today, is to tone down its fireworks displays, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said on Monday. Fireworks displays are to be held at the riverside site in Datong District’s (大同) Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area on four days at this year’s festival, with the first today, and then on Wednesday next week, July 31 and Aug. 10, the department said. There were eight displays last year, with the reduction aimed at minimizing inconvenience to local residents, it said. The first three shows, which are all on Wednesdays, are to last for five minutes, while the final