The owner of a Pingtung County golf ball factory where a fire last month left 10 people dead and 113 injured yesterday said that it has set up a NT$500 million (US$15.52 million) trust fund for affected employees, and that the families of firefighters killed in the blaze would also receive compensation.
Eight Launch Technologies Co (明揚國際) employees and three firefighters remain hospitalized, a company representative told a news conference on how the company was handling the aftermath of the Sept. 22 incident.
Launch Technologies has set aside NT$20 million in a fund to pay medical expenses related to the fire, and has given NT$300,000 to the families of the 10 people who died, the representative said.
Photo: Luo Hsin-chen, Taipei Times
On Friday, the families of six factory workers who died received five months of the employees’ average monthly salary to help with funeral expenses and 40 months of their average monthly salary as compensation in accordance with the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), the representative said.
They added that although the families of the four deceased firefighters qualify for a state line-of-duty death benefit, the company would also pay compensation to their families.
Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) on Sept. 27 said that the four firefighters who died in the blaze would be enshrined at the National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine in Taipei and that their families would each be eligible to claim a death benefit of NT$28 million.
In addition, the company has also set up a NT$500 million trust to compensate the families of the deceased and injured employees.
The families of the deceased firefighters would receive further compensation through a separate fund, the company said.
The company, which has suspended operations due to the incident, also pledged to pay worker wages until the end of this year and would gauge their willingness to work at the factory when it can be reopened.
On Sept. 25, the company was fined NT$2.4 million after the Pingtung County Government determined that the factory had contravened regulations by storing more flammable materials than is permitted.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS