The explosions in Greater Kao
hsiung’s Cianjhen (前鎮) and Lingya (苓雅) districts last week have caused at least 1,500 stores to close temporarily as the city government works to rebuild roads and repair structural damage caused by the blasts.
Tsai Chih-liang (蔡志亮), the owner of an electrical appliances store, said he opened for business on Sunday, but that the ruined roads have definitely affected customer numbers.
Photo: Fang Chih-hsien, Taipei Times
Tsai said he estimated he would be lucky to make NT$5 million (US$166,600) this year, half of what he usually sees in annual sales, due to the blasts.
Hundreds of businesses on Lizai Road, which was completely ruined, have closed due to a lack of customers.
A scooter repair shop owner surnamed Liu (劉), who has run his business for 30 years, said Yisin Road used to offer many business opportunities due to its large volume of pedestrian traffic, but the explosions have changed that.
Photo: CNA
“I heard it will take half a year for the roads to be repaved, and while I want to move the business temporarily, there are no good spots,” Liu said.
Wang Mao-pin (王茂彬), the owner of an event decoration store, said that while he can still conduct his business online, he was at a loss as to how to provide supplies as trucks are unable to reach his store, adding that he did not know what his losses might add up to.
Kaisyuan Road, commonly called “car rental street” due to the number of car rental agencies on it, was also severely hit by the blasts, with cars and buildings damaged.
Photo: Ko You-hao, Taipei Times
Some business owners on Kaisyuan Road are already seeking to relocate rather than wait for reconstruction to finish, saying they had to make a living and “couldn’t stand around and starve.”
The Greater Kaohsiung Government said it was preparing to repair 6km of road damaged by the explosions.
Economic Development Bureau Director Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) said that 1,275 companies that have registered for compensation related to the disaster so far.
There are easily 1,500 stores that suffered damage from the explosions, but have not registered, Tseng said, adding that the losses the stores have suffered are off the charts.
The city government will reduce taxes for stores affected by the blasts and construct paths to allow access to areas without roading, Tseng said, adding that businesses could also apply for social aid.
Yesterday morning, traffic in Cianjhen District was in gridlock on the first business day after the blasts ripped up several streets in the district on Thursday night and early Friday morning.
The roads were clogged with vehicles as police blocked traffic into the area to allow technicians to check for gas leaks in underground pipelines.
In the Sanduo business center, which is usually packed with shoppers, it was relatively slow yesterday morning.
Meanwhile, soldiers deployed to help with rescue operations continued to dig in the area, searching for people killed in the disaster, while residents tried to deal with the stench of what they believe to be decomposing bodies.
Additional reporting by CNA
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by