The Control Yuan yesterday censured the Central Weather Bureau for failing to adequately warn the public of the danger posed by Typhoon Morakot and to ask media outlets to retract reports that said the typhoon was not serious.
At least 700 people died in early August as record rainfall wrought havoc and triggered massive landslides in mountainous areas.
“The weather bureau did not remind the public to clean out drains after increasing the amount of precipitation expected ... it also failed to present its forecast in layman’s terms,” Control Yuan member Yu Teng-fang (余騰芳) said.
Control Yuan member Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏) said the bureau should have demanded several TV stations correct their reports that underestimated the severity of the typhoon.
“The weather bureau deserves praise for its professional expertise in weather forecasting,” Cheng said. “But it was not good at effectively communicating with the public.”
The bureau was the first government agency charged with dereliction of duty by the government watchdog, which has launched an investigation into the executive branch’s efforts in flood control, soil conservation, management of roads and bridges, land planning, relief and reconstruction projects and the disposal of debris and work to prevent the spread of disease.
In response, the bureau said it would conduct a thorough review of its forecasting.
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
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
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai