The Taipei City Government will revise river dredging plans, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
“Even though funding might be the same, dredging plans will change to focus on allowing boats to enter and exit docks,” Ko said, adding that previous dredging of the river channel had not had any effect.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) yesterday reported that the city government had spent NT$250 million (US$8.09 million) over the past 10 years on river dredging as part of plans to promote tourism through boat rides on the Tamsui River (淡水河), which courses through the Taipei Basin.
More than 80,000 people took the river tours last year, according to Department of Transportation figures.
Chen Juin-hong (陳俊宏), section head of the department’s general transportation section, said that even the river tour line’s small boats have to carefully coordinate departure times with tides to avoid being stranded.
He denied a media report that more than 60 percent of river line passengers were schoolchildren on field trips, saying that while the city government covers the tickets of schoolchildren, they make up only 6 percent of passengers.
He added that while the business of the private line operators licensed by the city was “poor,” the city government did not require them to report profit figures.
Chen said the city government has already approved a new river tour route along the city’s Keelung River (基隆河) between the Xikou (錫口) and Guandu (關渡) docks. Operation is scheduled to begin by the end of the year pending city approval of the boat being constructed by the line’s operator, he said.
Hydraulic Engineering Office Director Chen Shyh-haw (陳世浩) said his office had not attempted to make the Tamsui River passable at all times due to the prohibitive cost that would entail and that he would review dredging operations following Ko’s directive.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS