TSU lawmakers yesterday attacked the water-rationing measures implemented by the Taipei City Government in response to the drought, saying it was a politically motivated scheme designed to make the central government look incompetent.
They argued that it was unnecessary for the city government to adopt the water-rationing scheme because the water stored in the Feitsui Reservoir -- the city's main source of water -- was sufficient to last at least two more months.
Taipei City officials denied the accusations, saying the water-control scheme was needed because rainfall this year had been much less than in previous years.
The city's water shortage became a politically charged issue on Friday last week, when former president Lee Teng-hui (
Lee's attacks on Ma have been interpreted as a concerted effort by the former president to damage the mayor's image and decrease his chances of re-election in the year-end mayoral vote.
Under Lee's instruction, TSU lawmakers have been pursuing the issue.
After a meeting with officials from the Water Resources Agency, Feitsui Reservoir and Taiwan Power Company yesterday, TSU lawmakers concluded that the water restrictions were carried out for "political reasons."
TSU lawmaker Huang Chung-yuan (黃宗源) said that each day Taipei City consumes 2.5 million tonnes of water, of which 1.6 million tonnes comes from the Nanshih River (南勢溪).
The Feitsui Reservoir only needs to supply 900,000 tonnes each day, he said, so there is no need to discharge 2.5 million tonnes of water a day, as has been the case.
Citing information provided by the Feitsui Reservoir to back up their accusations, the lawmakers said that the 100 million tonnes of water stored in the reservoir would be enough to supply households for nearly 80 days, even if it does not rain.
"It is unnecessary to implement the water-rationing scheme for the time being," TSU lawmaker Chen Chien-ming (
"We suspect that the measures were carried out to embarrass the government."
Since May 13, the Taipei City government has been adopting water-rationing measures in which water services are suspended for 24 hours to parts of the city in rotation. The city government announced on Monday that it may have to toughen its water restrictions as early as next Tuesday so that water is cut off to households once every three days instead of once every five days.
TSU lawmaker Lo Chih-ming (
Ou Chin-der (
He said the Nanshih River only supplied 400,000 tonnes of water a day, not 1.6 million tonnes as claimed by the TSU. He added that rainfall for this year was less than half the average of previous years.
Surveys show that 80 percent of Taipei citizens think highly of the anti-drought measures adopted by the city government, he said.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese