Almost 3,000 vendors who slaughter chickens, ducks and geese on demand at traditional markets will need to find new jobs from Oct. 1, 2008, after the Cabinet yesterday announced its new policy to prevent avian influenza.
"According to our statistics, there are currently 2,855 vendors selling and slaughtering chickens, ducks and geese on demand. The government will help them sell other items or simply help them switch gears to other careers," Political Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (
Council of Labor Affairs Chairman Lee Ying-yuan (
PHOTO: WANG JUNG-HSIANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Shih said that affected vendors would need new equipment, and that the ministry would provide NT$100,000 (US$3,040) per vendor to buy new refrigeration equipment and NT$60,000 for used equipment.
"The aid will be available upon request until June 2007," Shih said. "Whoever needs this aid will need to file an application with the coordinating office of their local market."
Starting on Oct. 1, 2008, those who slaughter birds in public will be liable for a NT$500,000 fine.
"In addition to helping vendors make the switch, we will be encouraging the establishment of state-of-the-art slaughterhouses," Council of Agriculture Vice Chairman Hu Fu-hsiung (
Hu said that there were 23 abattoirs nationwide, with another 20 under construction, while 39 applications to open slaughterhouses are being processed.
The council will provide NT$15 million to each of the 39 slaughterhouses that are yet to be built to contribute to the cost of installing the necessary equipment.
National Science Council Chairman Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said that the government was not taking away job opportunities from vendors of live chickens.
"We are only developing a new business model. What's more, this new business model will not increase costs for either the vendors or consumers," Chen said.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
RSS