The country’s petrochemical, water and electricity providers yesterday introduced a series of discounts for people affected by the devastation Typhoon Morakot has wrought in southern Taiwan.
CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said they would start selling gasoline and diesel at reduced prices in the worst-stricken townships from today.
CPC said it would offer discounts of NT$2.5 per liter of gasoline and NT$1.5 per liter of diesel in the 20 most severely affected townships until Oct. 7, the state-run company said.
The cut-rate fuel will be offered at CPC’s 31 gas stations in the devastated parts of Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Chiayi, Nantou and Taitung counties. CPC has also frozen fuel prices in southern Taiwan until the end of next week.
The private-run Formosa Petrochemical Corp announced price cuts of NT$2.9 per liter of gasoline and NT$2 per liter of diesel in the disaster-ravaged areas.
CPC’s gasoline and diesel prices in the rest of the country will increase by NT$0.4 and NT$0.5 per liter respectively next week, down from planned increases of NT$0.8 and NT$1, CPC chairman Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said.
The state-run firm’s plans will result in three different price categories in the northern, central and southern regions.
For unaffected areas, CPC’s price for a liter of 98-octane unleaded gasoline will be NT$30.9 next week, while 95-octane unleaded gasoline will cost NT$29.4 and 92-octane unleaded gasoline will cost NT$28.7 per liter. The price of diesel will rise to NT$26.2 per liter.
“CPC is doing what it can in times of national distress, despite oil refineries recording a loss of NT$100 billion [US$3 billion],” Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) said at a media briefing.
The electricity bills of people living in areas where flood waters rose to a level of 0.5m or higher will be waived for two months, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) said at the briefing.
“People rebuilding their homes will also have their power bills waived until Aug. 7, 2011, if their monthly usage is less than 330 consumption units in summer and less than 110 units in non-summer months,” Taipower chairman Chen Kuei-ming (陳貴明) said.
Taiwan Water Corp (TWC, 台灣自來水) president Chen Fu-tien (陳福田) said that people in areas where water levels exceeded 0.5m and whose water usage is less than 10 consumption units would not have to pay water bills until Oct. 7.
One consumption unit is 100 cubic feet or about 2 kiloliters of water.
The water and power concessions for qualified consumers will be retroactive to Aug. 8.
Meanwhile, Yiin said he had not approved Water Resources Agency (WRA) Director-General Chen Shen-hsien’s (陳伸賢) offer to resign to shoulder responsibility for public criticism of the government’s reaction to the mudslides and flooding that had been triggered by the typhoon.
“At this point, it is extremely important that the WRA completes the tasks at hand before we start worrying about who the responsible parties were,” Yiin said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS