The Control Yuan issued corrective measures against the Public Construction Commission (PCC) and the Taipei City Government yesterday in connection with the construction of the Taipei Dome Complex.
The complex will occupy about 18 hectares on the former site of the Song Shan Tobacco Factory in Xinyi District (信義).
It will feature an indoor 40,000-seat stadium, hotels, department stores, a shopping center and an office building.
Control Yuan member Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) told a press conference that the Public Construction Commission had infringed upon the authority of the Taipei City Government by annulling decisions about the construction made by a city review commission on three separate occasions.
The city government was forced to make major changes to its construction plan after its initial reviews were rejected by the commission, Huang said.
The city government itself, however, was charged with failing to refer the revised construction plan to its review commission for approval, a violation of the Act for Promotion of Private Participation in Infrastructure Projects (促進民間參與公共建設法), Huang said.
Meanwhile, the Control Yuan also demanded the Sports Affairs Council standardize the criteria used in issuing swimming coach and lifeguard certificates to ensure the quality of the qualifications was standardized.
The council, which is the regulatory authority for swimming pool operators, was charged with dereliction of duty by the government watchdog for failing to establish specific measures to govern the certificates.
Control Yuan members Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏) and Huang Wu-tzu (黃武次) investigated the issue and found that the certificates were issued by different agencies that didn’t follow the same standards.
“The Sports Affairs Council is required by the National Sports Act (國民體育法), passed in 2000, to promulgate standards for the certificates, but no such criteria has been established in the past nine years,” Cheng said.
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the