The Muzha Refuse Incineration Plant smokestack in Taipei’s Muzha District (木柵) is to be redecorated with images of Taiwanese blue magpies, banyan trees and rhododendrons, Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said on Wednesday.
The 150m smokestack currently features images of giraffes.
Ko in a Facebook post cited wear and tear as the reason for the new paint job.
Photo provided by the Environmental Protection Administration
The change is part of a planned refurbishment, which will see the plant’s exhaust gas treatment and power and electric systems upgraded, Ko wrote, adding that the public’s standards regarding air quality have continuously risen.
The refurbishment would reduce the plant’s emissions, increase the power it generates from waste heat by 6 million kilowatt-hours per year, and return its capacity to more than 1,000 tonnes of waste per day, Ko said.
Liang Hung-lang (梁宏郎), who heads the plant, had said on Monday that the image would be kept secret until it was painted at the end of the year.
Photo provided by the Environmental Protection Administration
The giraffes have remained on the smokestack for 24 years, Ko said, adding that many people mistakenly believe that it marks Taipei Zoo, which is also located in the area.
The new images are more representative of the city’s ecological environment and would better blend into the scenery, Ko said, adding that they were created by local artists Chen I-ming (陳一銘) and Lin Chia-wei (林家蔚).
The Taiwanese blue magpie, the banyan tree and the rhododendron are the city’s official bird, tree and flower, the Taipei City Government’s Department of Environmental Protection said in a statement.
EXCUSES: Beijing is using government and research vessels as a pretext to harass the nation and enter its EEZ, and engage in ‘hegemonic expansion,’ the coast guard said The Coast Guard Administration yesterday said it drove away Chinese oceanographic research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 22 (向陽紅33) from restricted waters after warning it that it was in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Chinese vessel entered restricted waters off the coast of Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳) at 11:35pm on Thursday, the coast guard said, adding that it dispatched the Lanyu patrol vessel and the boat PP-10077 to shadow the Chinese ship and issue radio warnings ordering it to leave. China has no sovereignty over waters off Taiwan’s east coast, Lanyu’s crew told Xiang Yang Hong 22 over the radio, and demanded
BAIT AND SWITCH: Allowing KMT-run counties to sell to China while the threat of abrupt cancelations hangs overhead is another form of coercion, officials said Beijing is using agricultural purchase offers announced during the Straits Forum to deepen Taiwan’s dependence on the Chinese market, a Taiwanese official said yesterday as they criticized the Taitung County commissioner’s participation in the initiative. During the Straits Forum held in Xiamen on Saturday, Chinese officials announced a sales and purchase agreement for agricultural products from some counties led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Taitung County Commissioner Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴), who was barred from attending the event in person by the Mainland Affairs Council, participated via video. Under the agreement, China would purchase atemoyas, pomeloes, tea and grouper harvested in Taitung,
SHIFTING FIRE: While the tempo of purely military exercises around Taiwan has gone down somewhat, Beijing is working to isolate Lai diplomatically from support abroad Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is shifting tactics in his campaign to pressure Taiwan, ramping up diplomatic isolation of the nation while dialing down provocative displays of military aggression. Taiwan recorded a daily average of five Chinese military aircraft crossing the Taiwan Strait’s buffer line with China through May this year — half the number logged in the same period last year. In March, Beijing did not send a single fighter jet near Taiwan for seven days, the longest absence on record outside of typhoon season. In comparison, China sent 153 planes near Taiwan during one day at its peak in
Four Taiwanese universities have been ranked among the world's top 200 institutions in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings for next year, the highest Taiwan has ever placed in the category, with National Taiwan University (NTU) achieving its best performance at 54th globally and 17th in Asia. The four Taiwanese institutions in the global top 200 are NTU (54th), National Tsing Hua University (142nd), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (177th) and National Cheng Kung University (191st), the rankings showed. All four universities achieved their highest-ever global rankings this year, QS data showed. National Cheng Kung University entered the top 200 for
RSS