Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday said operations at one of the Formosa Plastics Group's oil refining units in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮) would remain suspended until the cause of the fire on Sunday has been identified and rectified.
Wu made the remarks after meeting Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-feng (蘇治芬), Formosa Group representatives and residents, as part of a trip to the county yesterday — his first visit to the area since a fire broke out at the No. 6 naphtha cracker complex.
Wu said permission to resume operations would only be given once an examination of the factory had been completed and it meets all the requirements to ensure operational safety.
Wu added that the Formosa Group had agreed to the township’s request to cover the expenses needed for residents from Mailiao and the nearby Taisi Township (台西) to have health examinations.
Residents will be compensated for agricultural, fish and livestock losses as a result of the pollution generated by the plant, Wu said.
The Labor Inspector Institution and the Institute of Occupational Safety and Heath are in the process of writing an initial assessment report on the causes of the fire, Wu said, adding that the Formosa Group should also present ways to improve its safety measures within one week of the initial assessment report’s completion.
The fire on Sunday, the second in a month, has resulted in severe air pollution and huge losses for local agricultural and fishery industries in Mailiao. There has also been strong opposition from local residents to a planned expansion of the petrochemical complex that is currently undergoing an environmental impact assessment by the government.
On Thursday, Su led a group of Mailiao residents to Taipei and staged a protest outside the Executive Yuan, demanding the government set up an independent investigation committee to examine the cause of the blaze. Wu did not meet the protesters at the time.
Earlier yesterday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) called for the Executive Yuan and Yunlin County Government to clarify the responsibilities associated with the fire accident.
“Both the central and the local governments should be responsible for the accident and should work together to solve the problem, rather than cause any confrontations,” Ma said during a meeting with representatives from the Chinese National Federation of Industries at the Presidential Office.
He said the government attaches equal importance to economic development and environmental protection, but if the two issues conflict, environmental protection would win out.
Citing the Basic Environmental Act (環境基本法), which states that environmental protection should be the priority if any economic or technological developments cause damage to the environment, Ma said his administration would handle related issues by adhering to the act.
“The government will have more discussions with the industry and adjust the policy on the development of local industries. We will seek to strike a balance between economic development and environmental protection,” he said.
National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday said it disqualified a person from an entrance examination for using AI smart glasses to cheat, along with two others for making untruthful statements in their curriculum vitae. The three applicants were given null scores, Taiwan’s highest-ranked university said, calling on prospective students to be honest in the admissions process. NTU registrar Lee Hung-sen (李宏森) said that the cheating applicant wore a hat and thick-rimmed glasses to the second written exam for medical school, claiming that they felt cold. Suspicions were aroused when the applicant stared oddly at the test for long stretches while steadily bringing the paper
MILITARY ISSUES: A partisan divide between the Cabinet and the legislature ‘raised questions about Taiwan’s ability to adequately fund its defense,’ the report said Taiwan’s defense budget, military personnel numbers and resilience are challenges to its ability to meet national defense goals, the US Naval Institute said in a report published on Tuesday. In response to the perception of a growing military threat posed by China, Taiwan has embarked on an effort to enhance the capabilities needed to deter an attempt by Beijing to annex the nation by force, the institute said in the US Congressional Research Service report, titled Taiwan: Defense and Military Issues, which was filed on Thursday last week. Taiwan’s defense budget increased by about 7.5 percent from 2024 to last year, it
NOT JUST NUMBERS: What matters to intelligence work is crucial, reliable information, so even a few credible leads can be highly valuable to national security, a legislator said The National Security Bureau (NSB) yesterday said it has finished the establishment of an information-reporting channel for Chinese nationals, the aim of which is to broaden intelligence gathering on China’s political, military, economic and social developments. Chinese nationals can submit information on the Web page, https://report.nsb.gov.tw, the NSB said in a statement. The move aims to expand the bureau’s diverse intelligence sources and is pursuant to the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), it said, adding that it referenced practices adopted by intelligence agencies in the US, the UK and Israel. An increasing number of people are approaching Taiwanese agencies to provide information, as
66 FIGHTER JETS: The aircraft is likely undergoing preparations for its transfer to Taiwan — a significant step forward in the nation’s modernization program, a lawmaker said The first of Taiwan’s order of F-16V Block 70 aircraft has been sighted in Texas ahead of delivery, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said. Taiwan’s first F-16V Block 70 two-seat aircraft, tail number 6831, was seen flying from Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Greenville, South Carolina, to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Texas, Wang wrote on Facebook yesterday. The plane is likely undergoing preparations for its transfer to Taiwan, marking a significant step forward in the Republic of China Air Force’s modernization program, Wang said, citing military analysts. The F-16V Block 70 is a new-build version
RSS