Lane 42, Jhunghua Road, Dasi District, Taoyuan has over 20 households. For more than 40 years now they have been using water from a well, and have never had tap water installed because the water from the well has always been good, and the regular tests have consistently shown the water quality to be fine. Starting from over a month ago, there have been concerns that the well water has become polluted. Not only has it been giving off a sewage-like stink, the water has also become muddy and dark, and the residents no longer dare use it, or drink it.
A few days ago the residents submitted an urgent application with the water company to have tap water installed, but were told they would need to wait until August before the work would be done. This presented a major headache for the residents, as for the past month or so Taoyuan has been implementing the third stage of its “five days on, two days off” water restrictions. Now they have no water at all, except by driving or riding every day into the hills to get water at source, and are having to go over to the homes of friends and relatives to borrow the use of their showers. The whole thing has made life very difficult for them.
On April 20 the local city government Environmental Protection Bureau sent someone to take a sample of the water, in order to clarify the cause of the pollution in the well. Also, staff at the Economic Development Department have promised to negotiate with the water company so that the water supply will be installed soon.
(Liberty Times, translated by Paul Cooper)
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Liberty Time
照片:自由時報記者李容萍
桃園市大溪區中華路四十二巷有二十餘戶居民,家中使用井水四十多年,由於水質不錯一直都沒有裝自來水,所定期送驗水質也都沒有問題,但一個月多前開始,井水疑遭受汙染,不僅發出像臭水溝的惡臭,水也變濁、變黑,居民根本不敢用、也不敢喝。
居民日前向自來水公司緊急申請安裝,但要等到八月才會施工,讓居民相當頭痛,因為這一個多月來桃園市實施第三階段限水「供五停二」,他們是天天停水,除了每天開車、騎車到附近一公里外提山泉水度日,晚上也只能跑到親戚朋友家借水洗澡,造成生活極大的不便,苦不堪言。
四月二十日市府環保局派員取水採樣,以釐清井水遭受汙染原因。經濟發展局人員也允諾協調自來水公司協助早日安裝自來水。
(自由時報記者李容萍)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110