The building at the Chingshui Rest Area (清水休息區) on Freeway No. 3 is safe and is equipped with all the required fire safety equipment, the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau said yesterday.
The bureau’s statement yesterday followed a Next Magazine story this week alleging the bureau allowed the building’s contractor — Hsin Tung Yang, a large food company — to expand the facility without securing the necessary permits.
The bureau’s deputy chief engineer Wu Mu-fu (吳木富) said that the Chingshui Rest Area’s contractor has submitted an application to expand or remodel the facilities. The building also passed an inspection for fire safety installations and certification for the completed construction.
Wu, said, however, that the contractor applied to expand the existing facility by adding a roof-top restaurant last August.
“We asked that the contractor pass an environmental impact review before it began construction, but it did not listen,” Wu said, adding that the bureau has fined the contractor twice for the violation and barred the company from opening the restaurant.
Wu denied allegations that the bureau intended to cover up the problem and said that the contractor would have to apply for construction and user permits.
Hsin Tung Yang also promised yesterday to quickly complete all the necessary procedures. However, it said it had hired specialists to review the structure of the building before it started construction of the rooftop restaurant.
The building is safe to use, it said.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
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