Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers said yesterday that a project conducted in a science park in Tainan to study means of reducing vibration caused by the north-south high speed railway was a waste of money.
TSU Legislator Liao Pen-yen (
Liao said a test report conducted and made available by the Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC), builder of the high-speed rail system, indicated that the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park's anti-vibration project is "absolutely unnecessary."
Liao said that while the science park's project aimed to lower the vibration caused by the train to 65 decibels (db), the train had registered levels of only 60db while reaching speeds of 300kph on a test run in November last year.
"The project is unnecessary and nothing but a waste of taxpayers' money," Liao said, vowing to slash the budget earmarked for the project this year, the three-year project's last.
Liao said that he strongly suspects that the project's bidding process was manipulated by high-ranking politicians who benefited from the deal by channeling income to a specific contractor.
Liao alleged that the National Science Council had awarded the bid to an unsuitable and unqualified contractor.
TSU Legislator Huang Chung-yung (
Huang said that although the contract is worth NT$8.6 billion (US$266 million), the National Science Council would be required to pay the contractor only NT$438 million if the project is deemed a failure.
The THSRC announced last year that it will delay the launch of the high-speed rail to Oct. 31 this year.
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
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
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