More than 80 percent of hotels and bed-and-breakfast lodgings in Kenting National Park in Pingtung County are operating illegally, according to a Ministry of the Interior (MOI) investigation.
Of the 369 hotels and bed-and-breakfast lodgings inside the park, 309 never completed the registration process to obtain a business license.
The probe was prompted by the recent uproar over the Yoho Beach Resort, which has been operating illegally for 14 years without environmental impact assessment approval.
According to a tally conducted at the end of 2011, there were 54 hotels with 16 or more rooms within the park in Hengchun Township (恆春), while there were 315 with less than 16 rooms, which are categorized as bed-and-breakfasts, a ministry official said.
“After checking with the Pingtung County Government, we found only nine hotels and 54 lodgings had completed the legal registration process needed to operate,” the official said.
Twenty-five of the illegal hotels could receive government supervision and guidance to amend their registration and complete the legalization process, he said, but the remainer were unlikely to receive approval.
Of the 54 legal bed-and-breakfast establishments, three had more than 16 rooms, a possible sign that they had underreported their room numbers during registration. Officials said the county government would conduct follow-ups to determine whether they should be fined.
“Fines will be imposed on these illegal operations according to the National Park Act (國家公園法), the Act for the Development of Tourism (發展觀光條例) and related laws. Wherever possible, government agencies will try to help them register and become a legal operation,” the official said.
“If there are any delays in these actions, then fines will be imposed. If these operations are illegal, then orders will be issued to tear them down,” he said.
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
RSS