Recent improvements to the quality of tap water in Kaohsiung are "belated justice" for residents, President Chen Shui-bian (
At the opening ceremony of three new water-treatment plants held yesterday in Chengching Lake, Kaohsiung County, Chen said that the achievement was the first step toward balancing national development between the south and north.
"From now on, Kaohsiung residents can wipe away their tears, embrace good water and enjoy the belated justice," Chen said.
Chen said that Vice Premier Lin Hsin-yi (
"I was initially worried about the obstacles we encountered," Chen said yesterday. "Fortunately, our determination conquered the seemingly impossible."
The government allocated a NT$15 billion in March this year for the three-year project. NT$4 billion remains unspent.
Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Yi-fu (
Major tasks included relocating water intakes to the Kaoping River (
Lin said that all tasks were completed two months early.
Premier Yu Shyi-kun, who stood alongside Chen at the opening ceremony, stressed that determination was the decisive factor.
Yu said People First Party Chairman James Soong (
For decades, water suppliers added excessive chlorine to disinfect raw water from the Kaoping River, which was polluted from both illegal dumping and waste water discharged from pig farms.
Since the discovery in July 2000 that toxic solvents were illegally being dumped in the Chishan River, which flows into Kaoping River, most residents have complained about the water's chemical odor and used it only for rinsing.
Most residents buy bottled spring water for drinking and cooking.
Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (
In the past three years, the Cabinet's Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) relocated 470,000 pigs raised on farms along the Kaoping River, effectively cutting excrement pollutants discharged from farms.
Meanwhile, 2,000 residents from 12 townships in Tainan County yesterday demonstrated at the Nanhua Reservoir, saying that local development had been restrained for decades in order to protect water supplies. Some demonstrators jumped into the reservoir to express their and anger.
Tainan County Commissioner Wu Chien-pao (
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
RSS