Following Tuesday night’s deadly earthquake in Hualien, the Cabinet yesterday said it is mulling a compulsory “health check-up” of older buildings and the establishment of a third-party construction supervision system to improve building safety.
The Ministry of the Interior gave a report of its post-earthquake emergency response and disaster relief measures to the Cabinet and said it is contemplating revising laws to enforce a compulsory assessment of buildings that are thought to be structurally weak, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chiu Chang-yueh (邱昌嶽) told a news conference at the Executive Yuan.
Buildings that collapsed during Tuesday’s earthquake were commercial and residential complexes, where supportive structures in the lower parts of buildings are often partially removed to make room for commercial space, meaning the structures are less earthquake resistant, Chiu said.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
Following a major earthquake in southern Taiwan on Feb. 6, 2016 that killed 117 people, including 114 when the Weiguan Jinlong complex in Tainan collapsed, the ministry launched a program to provide free assessment of buildings built before 1999, when improved construction regulations were enforced.
However, few complexes have applied for the service because residents fear that the value of their apartments would plummet if they are determined to be structurally weak, Chiu said.
The reinforcement or reconstruction of such complexes are often forestalled as the Statute for Expediting Reconstruction of Urban Unsafe and Old Buildings (都市危險及老舊建築物加速重建條例) requires the approval of all property owners to begin work, Chiu said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The ministry is mulling amendments to the statute and the Urban Renewal Act (都市更新條例) to enforce compulsory assessment for aging buildings and lower the approval threshold for reinforcement and reconstruction, Chiu said.
“We are faced with inadequate laws and lack of public awareness, and we need to make breakthroughs in those two areas. Taiwan is on a seismic belt and safety is an absolute priority,” Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said, calling on the public to prioritize building safety over real-estate profits.
The ministry has also finalized a draft amendment to the Building Act (建築法) to introduce a construction supervision system enforced by a third-party to ensure construction quality, Chiu said.
The third-party supervision system has been discussed since the collapse of the Weiguan Jinlong complex, construction of which was determined by prosecutors to be flawed.
The supervision system is aimed at ensuring the structural integrity of a building during the design and construction stages.
The draft is to be submitted as a priority bill in the new legislative session, Chiu added.
Meanwhile, Premier William Lai (賴清德) instructed the Cabinet to form a relief and reconstruction task force headed by Minister Without Portfolio Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶), which convened its first meeting yesterday afternoon in Hualien.
Lai also ordered the speedy distribution of the NT$300 million (US$10.21 million) relief fund to Hualien quake victims, while offering extra subsidies for people who need to relocate.
The ministry has assembled 50 specialists in Hualien to provide building assessments, and residents can call 1999 to book the service, Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) said.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS