The Executive Yuan is to build a NT$12.8 billion (US$447.52 million) national-level children’s recreational facility in New Taipei City to foster interest in science and technology, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday.
Su made the remarks in a speech after inspecting the site for the planned facility with New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), ahead of Children’s Day on Sunday next week.
The National Children’s Future Plaza project is to be built on a 3.3-hectare plot of land worth NT$30 billion in Banciao District (板橋), Su said.
Photo: CNA
The project, which would be fully funded by the government, came about after a series of talks between himself and Hou, who as mayors of the special municipality had both thought of using the land for children, he said.
The plaza would emphasize science, technology and cultural education through play, he said.
It has the potential to become a landmark and an international tourism destination, as domestic and international visitors would use the adjacent Taiwan High-Speed Rail and Taoyuan Airport MRT, he said.
Hong Shih-fang (洪世芳), who heads the Ministry of Culture’s Cultural Resources Department, said that the plaza would have cultural activities, digital art and technology exhibitions, and a children’s theater.
The planners would study the Boston Children’s Museum, the Kids Plaza Osaka in Japan and the Digital Art Museum in Berlin as models for the plaza, Hong said.
Over the past two decades, the city has tried and failed to develop the land due to local opposition to build-operate-transfer schemes that relied heavily on private-sector contractors, he said.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS