Taiwan must improve its crisis management of water resources in the face of frequent natural disasters and accidents, participants at a seminar said yesterday.
Speaking at a seminar attended by business, engineering and technology experts and specialists from Taiwan and the US, Yang Wei-pu (
Yang mentioned some of the problems: pipelines connecting the Nanhua Reservoir ruptured; a reservoir in Kinmen was contaminated with rat poison in June; a floodgate failed at the Liyutan Reservoir during a typhoon in early July; and the turbidity of the water in the Shihmen Reservoir reached record high levels after Typhoon Aere pounded northern Taiwan with rain in August.
Also speaking at the seminar -- formally known as the 2004 Biannual ROC-USA Business Conference and the Modern Engineering and Technology Seminar -- Chang Chein-chi (
While Washington strives to protect dams around the US from terrorist attacks, Taiwanese authorities should pay closer attention to reservoir safety, focusing on damage caused by natural disasters, Chang said.
Chao Junn-ling (
He said that every junction, ranging from catchment areas to water tanks, of a running water system is crucial in terms of water safety and security, since errors or accidents could happen anywhere along the line.
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
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
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