The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has launched a campaign to improve sanitation in public washrooms, inviting people to submit online evaluations of the washrooms they visit.
The campaign, which was launched on Friday and runs until Sept. 30, is being managed by local environmental protection offices throughout the country, Department of Environmental Sanitation and Toxic Substance Management Director-General Tsai Ling-yi (蔡玲儀) said, adding that there are 46,000 public washrooms nationwide.
The EPA ran a similar campaign last year, which resulted in evaluations of 16,000 washrooms, most of which were in gas stations, and train and metropolitan railway stations, she said.
The majority of those washrooms received excellent evaluations, with only 198 needing improvements, she said.
Since last year’s campaign the EPA has worked with other government departments to improve cleanliness, odor management, accessibility and other aspects of public washrooms, as well as building 1,694 new washrooms, she said, adding that it is now seeking public feedback on its efforts.
Among its improvements was the construction of 60 gender-neutral washrooms, 241 barrier-free washrooms for older people and people with disabilities, and 1,507 washrooms with toilet bowls (as opposed to squat toilets), which are easier for older people to use, she said.
Last year’s survey found several washrooms in a state of disrepair — particularly in parks, night markets and at tourist sites — she said, adding that most of them have since been repaired, while the remainder would be repaired before the end of the year.
Information about how to submit a review for a public washroom, as well as information about the EPA’s current eco-friendly tourism campaign, can be found on the agency’s Web site at https://ecolife2.epa.gov.tw/Toilet/indexNew.html, she said, adding that the site also features a search function to help people find a public washroom near them.
Both campaigns award participaion points, which can be redeemed for discounts at various stores, including 7-Eleven, E-life Mall, A-mart and others, she said.
For example, those submitting washroom reviews with pictures would be awarded 5,000 points, she said, adding that participating stores offer NT$1 discounts for every 100 points redeemed.
To further encourage participation, the EPA is holding raffles with winners getting an additional NT$200, NT$500 or NT$1,000 in prize money, she said.
“You can evaluate up to 10 washrooms per day and get one entry in the raffle each time you submit an evaluation,” she said, adding that winners would be announced on Oct. 16.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS