Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) yesterday called on Premier Lin Chuang (林全) to clarify a consensus announced by the Executive Yuan’s Eastern Taiwan Joint Services Center regarding a highway improvement project.
Fu asked whether the consensus — reached between the center and a deputy minister — was considered legally binding.
The center’s executive director Hsu Chuan-sheng (許傳盛) said that a cross-departmental meeting on Monday reached a consensus that the Suhua Highway Improvement Project would be completed by 2018 and would not be delayed or have its route changed, adding that maximum effort would be spent to conserve cultural heritage sites along the project.
The meeting was held between Hsu, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) and Deputy Minister of Culture Yang Tzu-pao (楊子葆).
The cultural heritage site in question is the Hanben culture archeological site (漢本遺址), which on July 1 was designated as a national heritage site.
Hsu said that multiple landslides along the highway caused by Typhoon Nepartak showed that there is an urgency to meet the project’s deadline, as the highway poses a safety risk to drivers and needs greater maintenance.
The meeting concluded that the project should endeavor to minimize damage to the heritage site and maximize conservation.
However, Fu said the center has never been clear on the improvement project, adding that the county government has not clarified whether the consensus would carry legal weight.
The people in the meeting do not have adequate seniority, and Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) is known to oppose the project, Fu said, adding that the premier should clarify the Executive Yuan’s stance on the issue.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man
RSS