The Taipei City Government has spent more than NT$350 million (US$12 million) in the past five years on government publications with a low sale ratio of 3.24 percent, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Wu Su-yao (吳思瑤) said yesterday, urging the city government to use its budget to promote electronic publications.
Over the five years, the city government published more than 788 kinds of official publications totaling 20 million volumes to promote city policies and projects.
About 97,600 of these publications are for sale, which led to a deficit of more than NT$55 million.
“The city government is like a publishing house with every department rushing to print, give out or sell books. It has failed to carry out its promise to go paperless with government publications,” she told a press conference held at the Taipei City Council.
In 2011 alone, the city government published 122 official statistical reports, including yearbooks, communiques and pamphlets.
The height of the free government publications piled up is 338km, which is 6.6 times the height of the Taipei 101 Mall, she said.
Information provided by Taipei City’s Research, Development and Evaluation Commission showed that of the books published in 2011, only the Taipei City Sign Language Translation Textbook, issued by the Department of Labor Affairs, generated a profit, earning NT$200,000.
The Department of Information and Tourism and the Department of Cultural Affairs, which produced the most publications among all departments, spent large amounts of money on publications that led only to deficits.
The division chief at the Department of Information and Tourism, Huang Hui-ching (黃惠靜), said the department allocated about NT$30 million every year for publications that aim to promote the city’s development and tourism.
Publications that introduced top attractions in the city and offered travel tips, such as Meet Taipei, have been popular among both local and foreign visitors, Huang said.
The department has also offered an electronic version of its monthly magazine — Discover Taipei — since 2007, and provided the magazine’s app as a free download in an effort to promote paperless publications, she said.
The division chief at the Department of Cultural Affairs, Kuo Pei-yu (郭佩瑜), said that most of the department’s publications aim at preserving historical and cultural information.
These publications may not generate much profit, but it is the department’s obligation to issue them, Kuo said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS