Complaints by Taipei residents about defective park playgrounds have risen to more than 1,000 cases in the past two years, Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Hung Wan-jen (洪婉臻) said yesterday.
Among the 446 playgrounds in the city, 1,345 complaints were reported last year, up from 1,079 in 2022 and 946 in 2021, Hung said.
As of May 7, 221 city parks had not been inspected for more than three years and 139 park playgrounds were undergoing improvements, she said, adding that the improvements should be accelerated to ensure children’s safety.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Public Works Department
Repair works take an average of 24 days and could last up to 375 days, which is clearly too long, Hung said.
The repair of inclusive playground equipment, which has been promoted by the city government for many years, could drag on for months due to a shortage of materials, she added.
The Public Works Department’s Parks and Street Lights Office should try to shorten the repair period and optimize its management of frequently repaired items and material inventory, Hung said.
The office yesterday said that 81 city parks were identified as having deficiencies after inspection, which are expected to be fully resolved by the end of next month.
The office has collected and classified the faults and deficiencies found in Taipei’s 446 park playgrounds, and would ask the contractor to prepare the materials for frequently damaged parts in advance for the future construction or renovation of playgrounds, it said.
The contractor would also be required to specify repair timeframes to reduce the waiting period and post a notice with the expected date of completion to inform visitors, the office added.
Hung said she has received multiple requests to construct inclusive parks in neighborhoods.
Residents of Wanhua District (萬華區) and Zhongzheng District (中正) were particularly keen, as they have the least number of parks among the administrative districts in Taipei, she said.
The authorities should implement a construction plan of inclusive facilities at the riverside park crossing both districts, while also looking into the possibility of building inclusive neighborhood parks in smaller districts, Hung said.
The department’s Hydraulic Engineering Office yesterday said that the construction plan of the riverside park has been put into practice, while the roadmaps and designs would be completed by the second half of this year, and the engineering projects would be outsourced next year.
The Parks and Street Lights Office said that playgrounds of all levels in the city have been successively revamped according to local needs every year since 2016.
While Wanhua District and Zhongzheng District collectively have eight out of the 72 inclusive park playgrounds governed by the office, construction or renovation plans would continue to meet local needs while maintaining a regional balance, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS