The Control Yuan on Friday censured the administrative office on Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) for leaving more than 547 tonnes of mixed waste untreated in a landfill last year.
The Taitung County Government — which administers Orchid Island — has since 2012 been using subsidies offered by the central government to contract waste disposal operators to transport waste to Taiwan proper for disposal amid increasing amounts of garbage on the island, Control Yuan members said.
The rate of disposal was 100 percent in the first six years, but it plummeted to 62.9 percent in 2018, prompting the central government to launch an investigation, which was conducted by Control Yuan members Yang Fang-ling (楊芳玲) and Chang Jen-hsiang (章仁香), who visited the island in September last year.
Yang and Chang concluded that the Lanyu Township Office had contravened the Basic Environment Act (環境基本法) by failing to properly implement waste treatment and recycling policies.
Apart from piles of untreated garbage, they found large and recyclable trash littering the regular-trash zone in the landfill, they said.
Other waste was also found on several other sites across the island, including abandoned boats and bicycles, building materials, scooter exhaust pipes and tires, pieces of furniture and other household trash, the officials said in a report.
The vessel contracted to transport waste was undergoing annual maintenance in November 2018 and a northeast monsoon posed a safety hazard to sailing, rendering the island unable to transport its accumulated waste, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said in the report.
The EPA and the county government should take waste disposal seriously and figure out ways to prevent a similar situation from occurring, the Control Yuan members said.
The office said it is common practice for island residents to place personal belongings, such as refrigerators, washing machines or TVs, on public land, and disputes might arise if garbage collectors removed the objects without the owners’ consent.
The office urged residents not to place garbage on public land.
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
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀) has been sentenced to three years in prison, fined 50,000 yuan (US$6,890) in personal assets and deprived political rights for one year for “inciting secession” in China, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said today. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict on Feb. 17, Chen said. The trial was conducted lawfully, and in an open and fair manner, he said, adding that the verdict has since come into legal effect. The defendant reportedly admitted guilt and would appeal within the statutory appeal period, he said, adding that the defendant and his family have
RSS