An environmental protection advocacy group yesterday called Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his administrative team "shameless and incompetent" for the way they dealt with the controversies surrounding the construction of the cable car system in Beitou, a build-operate-transfer (BOT) project.
Lin Tzu-ling (
Lin said that the city government then turned the BOT project proposal over to the Yangmingshan National Park Administration two years ago, which in turn was responsible for submitting the plan to the Ministry of Interior for its approval. Lin said that the city government altered the functions of certain facilities before submitting the proposal, however.
PHOTO: CHEN TSE-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
"How can Ma hope to convince anyone that the city government did not know what the content of the contract was when they were the ones who signed it?" Lin asked.
Lin called on the city government to halt the construction project and conduct an environmental impact assessment.
Ma responded by saying that the construction project did not require an environmental impact assessment report because the land used did not exceed 10 hectares. The city was happy to follow the procedures, Ma said, and was not involved in the scandal surrounding the contractors.
Officials from the Taipei City Government held a press conference to respond to the environmental group's charges.
Chen Yung-ren (
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
A British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14.37kg of marijuana into Taiwan through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Customs said late yesterday. The man, who arrived from Bangkok at 9pm on Friday, was asked by customs officers to open his luggage during a random inspection, Taipei Customs said in a news release. The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed, refused to open his suitcase and tried to flee the restricted area. He was eventually subdued by three customs officials and an Aviation Police Bureau officer. A later search of his checked luggage uncovered 14.37kg of marijuana buds. The case was handed over
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