In a bid to provide a better service to foreign workers seeking information or help regarding SARS-related matters, the Cabinet-level Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) has opened hot lines in four different foreign languages to offer free consultations, a CLA official said yesterday.
The four hot lines are 0800-885885 for the English service, 0800-885995 for the Thai service, 0800-885958 for the Indonesian service or 0800-017858 for the Vietnamese service.
The official added that the rights and interests of foreign workers in Taiwan who become infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) will be fully protected.
foreign workers
The official said foreign workers, including the 13 currently in quarantine at the Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital, will be equally covered and protected in compliance with an anti-SARS act.
The anti-SARS act was recently approved by the Legislative Yuan to fight the potentially deadly disease.
Under the terms of the act, Taiwan employers must pay the salaries and provide sick leave to foreign workers who fall victim to SARS or even die from the disease.
insurance
After the quarantine period for any of their employees ends, the employers can apply for labor premium insurance subsidies with the CLA in accordance with the law.
Two workers from Indonesia have already died from the mysterious epidemic thus far.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it