A contractor cutting corners used wooden boards for manhole covers in some parts of Taipei’s Tianmu (天母) neighborhood, the city government said yesterday.
The Taipei City Government promised a thorough inspection of the sewage system contractor’s work to ensure public safety.
The contractor, who was responsible for work on the public sewage system in Shilin District, covered manholes with wooden boards and a layer of tar, replacing the existing metal manhole covers, Taipei City Councilor Wang Chih-ping (汪志冰) said.
The wooden manhole covers posed a danger to the public, as vehicles or pedestrians could easily fall in, Wang said.
Wang said she had received complaints from residents in the Tianfu Borough of Shilin about the contractor’s sloppy work, which had already caused cave-ins after the recent heavy rains.
“Roads with wooden manhole covers are like soft sandwiches. Who will be held responsible if cars or pedestrians fall into the manholes?” Wang said during an inspection tour of the area yesterday.
She said there were about seven or eight wooden manhole covers in the area and that there could be more around the city.
Although the city is replacing the wooden manhole covers with metal ones wherever they are found, how many need to be replaced is still unknown.
Wu Chun-hsien (吳俊賢), a division chief of Taipei City’s Public Works Department, acknowledged that the contractor had cut corners and promised to check all sewage system construction sites around the city.
Wu said that the department would fine the contractor NT$40,000 and replace the city’s director of construction.
Wang urged the department to refrain from working with the contractor again to prevent similar incidents.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
The Executive Yuan yesterday warned against traveling to or doing business in China after reports that Beijing is recruiting Taiwanese to help conceal the use of forced Uighur labor. The government is aware that Taiwan-based influencers and businesses are being asked to make pro-Beijing content and offered incentives to invest in the region, Executive Yuan acting spokeswoman Julia Hsieh (謝子涵) told a news conference. Taiwanese are urged to be aware of the potential personal and reputational harm by visiting or operating businesses in China, Hsieh said, adding that agencies are fully apprised of the situation. A national security official said that former Mainland
RSS