Opposition legislators condemned Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday for blaming an accident at one of the city's mass rapid transit (MRT) system construction sites on the legislature.
"Hsieh is being irresponsible. He wants to exceed his responsibilities. The accident with the MRT was simply a construction mishap, and has nothing to do with the budget," Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wang Chung-yu (
Wang was the first chairman of the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation.
"Hsieh said that if the budget does not pass soon, then there would be more accidents at construction sites. If that's really the case, then the authorities should halt construction immediately and Hsieh should resign to take responsibility," Wang said.
Allotments for the Taipei and Kaohsiung MRT projects have been included in the budget for the 10 key infrastructure projects, estimated at NT$500 billion over five years.
The opposition has demanded the Cabinet separate the MRT budget from other projects and handle it according to debt-ceiling regulations because they entail ongoing expenses.
The Executive Yuan and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus, however, insisted that the projects should proceed together as part of one budgetary package.
"This year the budgets for the Taipei and Kaohsiung MRTs have been prepared within the NT$500 billion construction package. The budget still hasn't been passed, and the Kaohsiung City Government is already facing financial problems," DPP caucus whip Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said, urging opposition caucuses to change their minds and agree to the budget.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
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US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
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