Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday turned down calls for the suspension of Greater Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) over a fire at a night club on Sunday that killed nine people and injured 12.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Yu John-dow (余政道) and Chen Chieh-ju (陳節如), who spearheaded demands in the legislature that Hu be suspended, said the premier was “mandated to do that.”
At a separate setting, DPP caucus whips Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) and Wong Chih-chu (翁金珠) called on the Control Yuan to impose a temporary injunction on Hu and city officials to prevent possible cover-ups of dereliction of duty by officials during the investigation into the fire at ALA Pub. They said the Control Yuan should intervene if the Executive Yuan failed to implement a suspension order against city officials.
Photo: CNA
In accordance with articles 2 and 4 of the Act on Discipline of Civil Servants (公務人員懲戒法), the Executive Yuan has the power to suspend officials possibly involved in negligence or irregularities and refer them to the Public Functionary Disciplinary Sanction Commission under the Judicial Yuan for investigation, the DPP said.
“As mayor, Jason Hu is the one who should be investigated” for allowing the club to operate despite [allegedly] violating the Urban Planning Act (都市計畫法), the Fire -Service Act (消防法), the Construction Act (建築法) and the Business Registration Act (商業登記法), Gao said.
Gao said that Hu, who on Monday told the city council that a government taskforce could complete an investigation within two weeks, was not in a position to head the investigation.
Hu and his administration team should take full responsibility for the fire, as government officials conducted fire safety inspections at the nightclub as if it were a beverage shop rather than a nightclub, Wong said.
“The city clearly knew that this was a nightclub that served alcohol, but continued to treat it as simply a beverage store in its inspections,” Wong said. “This is why we believe that the entire city government, and especially [Hu], must take responsibility.”
Turning down calls for Hu’s suspension, Wu said he had no mandate to suspend the mayor because the Executive Yuan did not directly oversee the operation of city governments.
Yu demanded that Wu punish Hu by giving him a major demerit and suspending him for six months, as per the precedent set by former premier Lien Chan (連戰) following a devastating explosion in 1995 at the city’s Wellcome-Western Cuisine restaurant, which killed 64.
Saying that Wu was trying to cover up errors made by Hu, Yu said Wu was a worse premier than Lien.
Wu said the authorities had launched an investigation into the case, while President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) also ordered erring officials to be punished.
“The responsible officials will be reprimanded when criminal and administrative responsibilities are clarified. It won’t take long,” Wu said.
The Local Government Act (地方制度法) should apply in the case rather than the Act on Discipline of Civil Servants as the DPP lawmakers suggested, Wu said.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus urged the National Fire Agency to revise regulations to prohibit the use of torches and other open flame devices in performances inside buildings.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VINCENT Y. CHAO
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
RSS