The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday used the occasion of its second anniversary celebration to publicize some of the law-enforcement and maritime search-and-rescue achievements it is most proud of.
The CGA, inaugurated on Jan. 28, 2000, said one of its most remarkable accomplishments over the past two years has been the discovery and seizure of NT$11.8 billion worth of smuggled goods, including cigarettes, liquor and oil, as well as agricultural and fishery products.
CGA Director Wang Chun (王郡) said another major accomplishment of the administration has been search-and-rescue missions for around 1,600 people reported missing or stranded in shipwrecks or sea disasters.
"This achievement is indeed something to be proud of. Unfortunately, we were unable to save all those we intended to. There is still much room for improvement. We have yet to upgrade our equipment," Wang said.
President Chen Shui-bian (
With the agency's current equipment, mainly ships, President Chen said the CGA is unable to "have all of Taiwan's territorial waters" under its control.
The president said he expected the CGA to develop "three-dimensional operational capabilities" to make up for its deficiency in surface vessels.
Chen made the remarks in a speech he delivered to the CGA leadership and its staff at the Taipei headquarters of the administration. The three-dimensional operation capabilities Chen mentioned refer mainly to an air arm that the CGA is to bring into service.
The air arm will become operational on Friday, Wang said.
It is basically a fleet of helicopters with search-and-rescue capabilities.
Because of budgetary constraints, the CGA will not own the helicopters. They will be chartered from a civil aviation company on a pay-per-flight basis.
The CGA declined to reveal any further details of the helicopter fleet, such as the number of aircraft involved.
Besides the soon-to-be-established air arm, Wang also announced that the administration will increase the number of fixed coastal radar sites from 45 to 78 over the next few years.
The new radar sites will be built by local firms that won the bidding for the project in December.
The new radar sites will be linked to satellites, an official with the CGA said. It is not known which country the satellites belong to.
The CGA was founded in February 2000 and combined the coast guard command of the military, the marine police under the National Police Administration and certain portions of the customs office under the Ministry of Finance.
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