Local governments nationwide have launched safety inspections on old residential blocks and buildings with mixed commercial use in the wake of Thursday’s deadly fire in Kaohsiung’s Cheng Chung Cheng (城中城) building, which claimed 46 lives and injured dozens.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said on Friday that while the Ministry of the Interior’s regulations require fire safety inspections for buildings of 16 stories or higher, the Taipei City Government has since 2014 mandated safety inspection for buildings of 11 stories or higher.
Ko added that Taipei has 124 buildings that are mixed residential and commercial properties.
The Taipei City Government on Friday said that new regulations are to be enforced from Jan. 1 next year, requiring safety inspections on buildings over eight stories or higher.
When told that only about 40 percent of all high-rise buildings in Taipei have management committees, Ko said that he is aware of the situation, adding that the city government has special advisory teams to help residents set up their own committees.
“Right now we can only use persuasion,” he said, adding that “amending relevant laws enforcing management committee requirements would be the most direct way to deal with the issue, especially for those old high-rise buildings.”
Separately, some Taichung city councilors during deliberations at city hall on Friday said that Taichung has many mixed-use buildings that have been deemed unsafe.
To prevent fires or other tragedies from occurring in Taichung, the councilors have asked the city government to present a report on ways of dealing with unsafe or old buildings, and to have listed it for the next agenda.
Taichung City Councilor Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that the city government initiate immediate fire inspections and compile a list of all old buildings in Taichung.
He also urged enhanced programs for fire drills and safety inspections, along with firm enforcement of regulations for street-level arcade walkways, which are commonly occupied by scooters, other vehicles or illegal storefronts.
Meanwhile, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) on Friday said that he has ordered inspections of 50 buildings in the city deemed to be old or unsafe, adding that officials have already found five buildings “at high risk,” having failed fire safety inspections.
“They have been told to rectify the violations and a deadline has been given. If no improvement is found upon further inspection, fines would be imposed, and names of the buildings and their owners would be published to warn people not to live there,” he said.
Additional reporting by Hong Jui-chin
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS