Whistle-blowers who report activities that lead to river pollution -- such as illegal dumping or gravel quarrying -- may receive a reward of up to NT$120,000.
The Water Resource Department under the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced the rewards yesterday. The idea to pay informants was developed by the economics ministry and the Environmental Protection Administration.
Under the government's plan, whistle-blowers who report any illegal dumping of hazardous waste in the special "buffer zone" of a river would receive NT$120,000. Those who report dumping outside the zone would collect NT$60,000.
For reporting illegal dumping of household waste in river buffer zones, whistle-blowers will receive NT$10,000, while the payout for reporting waste dumped outside the zone would be NT$5,000.
When it comes to reporting the illegal dredging of a riverbed, officials said whistle-blowers would receive a NT$100,000 reward.
In July last year, truck drivers hired by a licensed waste handler discharged more than 100 tonnes of chemical solvents into the Kaoping River (高屏溪) -- one of the main sources of drinking water in southern Taiwan.
The discharge caused serious water pollution and left millions of residents without tap water for days.
In the following month, a main bridge crossing the river suddenly collapsed, resulting in several casualties. The accident was due to the loss of gravel in the riverbed after years of illegal quarrying.
BOOST: By operating the same advanced systems as the US military, Taiwan would be better positioned to share and integrate intelligence with partners, an expert said The first batch of MQ-9B SkyGuardian drones has arrived in Taiwan, and is being assembled and tested by drone manufacturer General Atomics and the military ahead of flight trials as part of the air force’s acquisition to bolster its aerial surveillance capabilities, a source said yesterday. The air force allocated a budget of NT$21.7 billion (US$687 million) from 2022 to 2029 to procure four MQ-9B uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) manufactured by General Atomics along with associated equipment such as ground control stations. The US has agreed to deliver the four MQ-9Bs to Taiwan in two batches this year and next
‘BRAZEN’: The holiday did not stop China from activities that infringe on Taiwan’s maritime jurisdiction, but the CGA is ready to defend the nation, Kuan Bi-ling said Beijing is intensifying maritime pressure on Taiwan, but the nation will never yield, Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Sung Chen-en (宋承恩) said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has adopted a “shadowing and monitoring” approach to avoid falling into a Chinese trap to escalate tensions and deepen the conflict, Sung said in an interview published yesterday in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). China Coast Guard formations patrolling waters east of Taiwan, as well as official Chinese vessels entering areas around Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) and Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) show Beijing’s attempts to significantly step up
Taiwanese firms’ China investments have dwindled to less than 1 percent of their total foreign investments, putting China-based investments on track for a record low this year, Ministry of Economic Affairs data showed. Taiwan’s investments abroad in the first five months of this year reached US$35.92 billion, Department of Investment Review data showed. Investments outside China totaled US$35.61 billion, up 133.94 percent year-on-year, while investments in China totaled US$310.3 million, down 32.3 percent and about 0.86 percent of the total, data showed. Major overseas projects included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) US$30 billion capital injection into an overseas subsidiary,
VARYING OPINIONS: People with different political affiliations have different views on how bilateral ties with the US, Japan and China would affect Taiwan’s security Two-thirds of Taiwanese view closer US and Japan ties as beneficial to security, a survey by Taiwan’s top military think tank showed. To gauge the Taiwanese public’s perceptions of how different external relationships affect security, the Institute for National Defense and Security Research commissioned a survey by National Chengchi University’s Election Study Center asking respondents whether closer relations with the US, Japan and China would strengthen or weaken Taiwan’s national security. The results, published on Thursday in a report by institute researcher Lee Kuan-chen (李冠成), found that about 66 percent of respondents believe improved Taiwan-US relations would strengthen national security,
RSS