Amid vociferous protests and shoving matches, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Promising not to boycott Ma in the same fashion that pan-blue lawmakers have used in the legislature, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilors used long speeches and protests to criticize Ma for providing an "unprofessional and incomplete municipal report" and for ignoring his responsibilities as mayor since being elected Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman.
"The municipal report only gave good news and failed to include problematic issues such as the lawsuit Taipei MRT lost to Matra, and delays to many construction projects," the DPP's caucus leader Councilor Chen Cheng-teh (
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
Upset by the pan-green camp's obstructions, KMT Councilor Yang Shih-chiu (
Council Speaker Wu Bi-chu (
Prior to reporting on "how to build Taipei into a healthy city," Ma responded to councilors' questions, in which DPP and KMT councilors were split on whether the issue of Feitsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫) should be of concern to the city government.
"Opening up access to the section between Pinglin (坪林) and Shiding (石碇) on the Taipei-Ilan highway will influence the water quality of Feitsui Reservoir," Ma said. "This concerns the rights and interests of the 8 million people in Taipei city and county. Of course it is the responsibility of the city government. I don't agree that it is only an issue for the Legislative Yuan."
During the question-and-answer session, an allegation that Bureau of Civil Affairs Ho Hung-jung's (
According to reports in the Chinese-language media, Ho was absent from work early this month when Typhoon Khanun hit the island as he was on vacation with his secretary in Bali.
Ma defended Ho yesterday, saying that Ho had asked for leave. But he promised to continue an investigation into whether Ho needs to take any responsibility regarding the matter.
Ho yesterday denied the accusation and said that he did ask for leave by having his staff apply for him. He also denied having an affair with his secretary.
After the discussions ended, the council agreed that Ma and his team should prepare special reports on four issues between now and next month, including the donation of part of the Institute on Policy Research and Development's land to Yong-jian Elementary School, the reform of the city hospital system and delays in construction projects.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
The first tropical storm of the year in the western North Pacific, Wutip (蝴蝶), has formed over the South China Sea and is expected to move toward Hainan Island off southern China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. The agency said a tropical depression over waters near the Paracel and Zhongsha islands strengthened into a tropical storm this morning. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 64.8kph, with peak gusts reaching 90kph, it said. Winds at Beaufort scale level 7 — ranging from 50kph to 61.5kph — extended up to 80km from the center, it added. Forecaster Kuan Hsin-ping
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