A month before finishing his eight-year term in office as Taipei mayor, Ma Ying-jeou (
To sum up the municipal developments under Ma's administration over the past eight years, the Taipei City government yesterday published a set of two books under the title To Be Reborn Through the Carrot and Stick Approach.
Ma shared his pride in policies on garbage disposal and river dredging, and said he never disregarded Chen's contributions.
PHOTO: CNA
"He [Chen] tried to implement the policy of paying for garbage disposal by the bag, but it didn't work out... But he only served for four years. Of course we have achieved more, but I never tried to write off his contributions," Ma said at the book-release ceremony at Taipei City Hall.
Among his administration's achievements, such as the introduction of the MRT EasyCard, a decrease in garbage disposal and the construction of the MRT, Ma said, five projects received worldwide recognition by winning international awards, including the Asia Waste Management Excellence Award in 2001 and the Intelligent Community Award this year, as well as being crowned the city with the world's largest Wi-Fi network.
Commenting on the controversy surrounding the policy on renovating old markets, Ma said that although it was a difficult process, of the 18 market renovation projects in Taipei, only six were confronted with serious problems.
"We welcome criticism, but please also give us credit for our successes. Don't say that I did nothing but jog and swim for the past eight years. It's unfair to all the city's hard-working staff," he added.
Ma was choked with sobs when he talked about coming to the end of his term, and said that he expected the next mayor to continue with developments that have not yet been completed, such as the leveling of sidewalks and dredging the Tamsui River.
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
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
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