Taiwan must adopt diverse and extraordinary measures to promote water conservation, including a water price hike, Water Resources Agency Director Hwang Jing-san (黃金山) said yesterday in Kyoto.
Taiwan's delegation to the Third World Water Forum will return to Taiwan today.
Before wrapping up five days of participation in the forum, Hwang said that a shortage of water resources remains a threat to Taiwan for the near future.
"We Taiwanese have indulged in wasting water that we pay extremely low prices to obtain," Hwang said.
According to Hwang, water prices in Japan are about three to four times those of water prices in Taiwan.
"If water prices reflected the real value of the water, users would not waste it," Hwang said.
The real cost of water should include the costs of ecological conservation, reducing the rate of water loss and other maintenance, Hwang said.
After paying a visit to Lake Biwa -- the largest lake in Japan and one of its most important fresh water resources -- in Shiga prefecture, Hwang said that Taiwan has the same ability to maintain and protect its water resources as Japan does.
"If our water resource management system could be less politicized, solving water-related issues would be easier," Hwang said.
DPP lawmaker Eugene Jao (趙永清), who observed the forum in Japan, said that Taiwan's involvement in the forum lays particular stress on the technological side of conservation.
"We should also have paid attention to social issues, such as capacity building," Jao said.
Capacity building refers to the sum of efforts to enhance and utilize people's skills and capabilities as well as institutions at the local, national and global levels, in an attempt to sustain development of water resources.
Jao said that promoting the innovation of technology in order to achieve goals such as water conservation, waste water recycling, rainwater harvesting remained essential to solving water shortage related problems.
Jao said that he would urge the Sustainable Development Committee (永續會) of the Legislative Yuan to discuss water issues, including establishing reasonable water prices and improving the effectiveness of water resources management.
Although Taiwan's delegation will not be able to join the Ministerial Conference on all occasions when the forum meets, Hwang said, the WRA would still keep the nation well informed with updated views shared by forum members worldwide.
Meeting under the shadow of the war in Iraq, the forum's members called for international cooperation in maintaining the limited water resources on the planet.
Dr. Mohmoud Abu-Zeid, the President of the World Water Council (WWC) warned of the negative impact being made by the war on the region's water resources, water-distribution systems and sanitation systems.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS