The Control Yuan yesterday censured the Tourism Administration for failing to provide proper oversight of bridge maintenance in national parks.
The agency is the authority overseeing 94 bridges in national parks, 88 of which are footbridges, the Control Yuan said in a report.
However, its “Pedestrian Bridge Management Information System,” which records basic bridge information and inspection records, includes more than 100 entries in which information is either inconsistent or missing, the report said, adding that the agency also failed to train maintenance personnel.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsun, Taipei Times
It was also derelict in its duty to oversee and inspect the conditions of bridges that it subsidized and were built by local governments, as stated in the Regulations Governing the Management of Designated Scenic Areas (風景特定區橋梁維護管理作業要點), the report said.
Furthermore, it only completed its first inspection of bridges under its jurisdiction four years after the regulations came into effect, it said.
Of the 88 footbridges, 63 were special bridges built using non-traditional methods, such as cable-stayed and arch bridges, which are subject to a different set of regulations for maintenance, resulting in the bridges not being considered for “necessary repairs,” it said.
The agency was also negligent, because it failed to ensure uniformity of inspection schedules and did not notice that some inspection reports were the same as others, it said.
National scenic areas adopt the D.E.R.U. method, which assigns a value of one to four for degree, extent, relevancy and urgency, to rate when pedestrian bridges require maintenance.
However, the Alishan (阿里山), Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) and the East Coast national scenic areas failed to address multiple incidents that were listed as urgent, the report said.
The Control Yuan also found that the agency had failed to act, or cited a lack of funding to act, on a multitude of reports for footpaths that have been reported as damaged or requiring maintenance.
The agency should step up communication with local governments regarding the development of skybridges, as many have been built to draw tourism, but then fall into disrepair once their popularity fades, the report said.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
RSS