Acting Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) yesterday said that his top priority would be to deal with the challenges facing the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) following a deadly derailment of a Puyuma Express train on Oct. 21.
Wang yesterday officially became the acting minister following the resignation of former minister of transportation and communications Wu Hong-mo (吳宏謀) on Saturday last week.
Wu, who was in office for 141 days, is one of three Cabinet members whose resignations were approved by Premier William Lai (賴清德) after the Democratic Progressive Party suffered major losses in Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections.
In his final interview with the media as minister, Wu said that his next move would be to take a break and reflect on his shortcomings.
As the ministry’s employees bid him farewell with a round of applause, Wu bowed and encouraged them to press on and not let the public down.
Regarding the issues facing the TRA, Wang said that the agency has been in operation for 130 years and would soon undergo an organizational overhaul.
In the meantime, the agency would have to improve the maintenance of its facilities, he said.
The agency’s operational safety committee would be transformed into the operational safety department, a move that aims to regain the public’s trust in the agency, Wang said.
Half of the budget allocated from the Executive Yuan’s Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program would be used to improve the agency’s operational efficiency, he said.
It is critical that the agency make good use of the funding by itemizing problematic equipment, from pantographs, cables and railway tracks to automatic train protection systems and air compressors, he added.
Several mayors and county commissioners have begun reassessing the projects listed in the development program that are within their jurisdictions, Wang said, adding that construction projects must meet the needs and demands of local residents and that the Ministry of Transportation and Communications is optimistic about the implementation of the program.
Asked about the family members of the derailment’s victims who have expressed dissatisfaction, particularly about the compensation offered by the agency, Wang said that they want to know the reason behind the derailment.
The agency would compensate the families based on precedent, he said.
Calling himself an “errand boy,” Wang said that as acting minister he would make sure that work at the ministry continues as it was, adding that the ministry has much more qualified individuals to assume the post of minister.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
RSS