Professors and staff from National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday blasted the Ministry of Education for being reckless in its decision to reconsider moving a primary school damaged in the 921 earthquake to forest land under the university's administration.
The government has favored reconstructing Neihu Elementary School (內湖國小) in Nantou at Yushuikeng (有水坑), a plot of government-owned forest land currently under the care of NTU's Experimental Forest Administration.
The university, after it previously rejected the government's decision, was criticized by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) as having been "unkind" to the elementary school's students.
Fan Sun-lu (范巽綠), vice minister of education, added to the attack, saying that the ministry and local villagers were "fed up with the lack of cooperation from the university."
KMT lawmaker Huang Hsien-chou (
The ministry has decided to conduct a more comprehensive evaluation on the use of the land in two months to settle the dispute.
NTU staff and professors yesterday claimed again that the university was simply concerned about the safety of the students and said it had been wrongly accused.
Liu Tsung-kwei (
Liu and Huang Hung-bin (黃弘彬), an agricultural engineering professor at NTU, explained that this type of soil had been deposited by previous mudslides and that more slides might occur.
Wang Ya-nan (王亞男), director of the forest administration, said she assumes that the education ministry is not interested in looking at safer sites on privately owned lands that have been proposed by the forest administration because it doesn't want pay compensation to the owners.
Wang also said it might not be worth cutting down the forest simply for the purpose of relocating the school.
Tsai Kuang-jueng (
He said the ministry is considering controls to cope with mudslide risks.
Another options being considered is building smaller wooden cabins instead of high buildings to allow the school to safely stand as a "forest education institution."
Tsai said he thinks that it would be a good idea to rebuild the school as a valuable lesson to illustrate how humans can deal with the aftermath of earthquakes and co-exist with the environment.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would severely threaten the national security of the US, Japan, the Philippines and other nations, while global economic losses could reach US$10 trillion, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) wrote in an article published yesterday in Foreign Affairs. “The future of Taiwan is not merely a regional concern; it is a test of whether the international order can withstand the pressure of authoritarian expansionism,” Lin wrote in the article titled “Taiwan’s Plan for Peace Through Strength — How Investments in Resilience Can Deter Beijing.” Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) intent to take Taiwan by force
RSS