Countless bombs are ticking across Taiwan, particularly in Taipei. Those explosives have nothing to do with terrorist activity. However, they present a much greater danger than explosive devices. They are propane tanks.
Frightening scenes come into view along major thoroughfares and alleyways in Taipei. For instance, in business sections adjacent to Daan Forest Park, food peddlers prepare food for immediate consumption in flimsy carts loaded with propane tanks, often improperly and insecurely, which is used as heating fuel.
A gas tank retail store takes up the ground floor of a multistory building with residential units above it on Xinyi Road, a major avenue in the city. Worse, motorcycles with up to five gas tanks piled on back seats which are not built to transport them rush through crowded streets at high speeds, with no safety concern.
Propane tanks store highly flammable propane gas in liquid form, requiring sturdy mechanical containers that must maintain extreme pressure. If such a tank is mishandled or involved in an accident, it is like a TNT bomb.
Statistics show that a 9kg tank of liquid propane exploding can cause substantial damage, destroying a family house or even a whole block of half a dozen buildings. In many cases, the fire following such an explosion incurs even more damage and human casualties than the explosion itself.
In Taipei, another matter makes fires even worse. A cursory walk around several sections of the city reveals a puzzling scene: Dozens of motorcycles are parked on the sidewalk, blocking fire engines.
Ticking bombs in the city’s heart with fire engines entangled in a pool of motorcycles invite disaster. An aging nuclear power plant only 25km away already presents a risk to Taipei, a population of millions. The city simply cannot afford more threats from within.
For the safety of residents, propane tank retailers and distributors must be relocated to city outskirts, away from heavily populated areas. Regulations must also be imposed and enforced to make fire houses ready for rapid response.
Kengchi Goah is a senior research fellow at the Taiwan Public Policy Council in the US.
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