Estimates of the damage caused by the Tzini oil spill on the nation's east coast last month will be delivered by Friday next week, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday. The Maltese cargo ship went aground off Suao Port (
Hsu Jen-tse (
The company, he said, must not only pay for the costs the government is facing to clean up the mess, but it must also pay for the damage done to local fishery resources as well as the damage to the marine environment.
According to Hsu, a preliminary estimate shows that the company will have to pay the central government at least NT$10 million (US$312,500). Regarding the damage to local fishery and other natural resources, the administration has asked the Suao Fishermen's Association (SFA) to quickly calculate their losses.
"Both the Taiwanese government and the ship's insurer (Assuranceforeningen Gard) have generally agreed that the entire incident will be settled through direct negotiations, and not through a lawsuit in the international court," Hsu added.
Assuranceforeningen Gard is also the insurer for Amorgus which was responsible for an oil leak several years ago. The firm reached a settlement with the EPA in August last year.
SFA representative Chen Sheng-yen (陳勝彥) said yesterday that the association has asked academics from the National Taiwan Ocean University to assist them in coming up with an accurate estimation of damages.
Chen said while it is relatively easy to determine the losses of fishermen that use set nets -- a commonly-used method to snare seasonal migrating fish along the coast -- it is much more difficult to gauge the long-term damage done to the marine environment.
"We don't want to just name a price that is not supported by specific evidence," Chen said, adding they will release their estimate on either Monday or Tuesday.
The Bureau of Environmental Protection under the Ilan County Government has reported that more than 100 tonnes of fuel oil leaked into the ocean.
The owner of the cargo ship was ordered to remove the remaining fuel oil on the vessel before having the ship towed out to sea.
However, the owner disobeyed the ruling.
Tzini's proprietor was fined a total of NT$3 million by the Ilan County Government for failing to act in time to prevent the oil leakage and for disobeying an administrative order in local waters.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern