People First Party (PFP) legislators yesterday appealed to lawmakers from other opposition parties and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to put aside their differences and jointly stipulate special statutes on the restoration of the area in Greater Kaohsiung affected by last week’s gas pipeline explosions.
The Executive Yuan could start drafting a chemical disasters response act to integrate the government’s resources to rescue people hurt in such incidents, the PFP lawmakers said.
PFP Legislator Thomas Lee (李桐豪) told a press conference in Taipei that he hoped Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) could brief legislators on how the government responded to the disaster and also review its actions in addressing the situation.
Photo: Liu Hsin-der, Taipei Times
Lee said he might propose a third plenary session to review the special statutes.
“The Legislative Yuan will do everything to help the draft the special statutes,” Lee said. “We hope that factories that manufacture chemical products can learn how to handle disasters caused by chemicals.”
Lee said that gas pipeline issues have not been addressed for three or four decades, and the regulations should be thoroughly evaluated.
PFP Legislator Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) said the nation does not have an agency similar to the US’ Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has personnel professionally trained to handle chemical hazards and standardized operating procedures to deal with related disasters.
The government also lacks a chain of command to direct and monitor such hazards, she said.
She said that local governments should establish agencies to deal with chemical hazards and employ trained professionals to oversee disaster management, adding that firefighters need to be educated more on the nature of different chemicals to make correct decisions and reduce casualties.
Kaohsiung City Councilor Wu Yi-cheng (吳益政) said that the central and local governments should work together to help petrochemical companies to relocate so that residents can feel safe.
Democratic Progressive Party legislators Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and Lin Tai-hua (林岱樺) held a separate press conference in Taipei, calling for the formation of a legislative subcommittee to investigate the explosions.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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