Top government officials joined representatives from Japan in central Taiwan yesterday for a ceremony to mark the completion of the first batch of Japanese-donated prefabricated housing.
The 43 units are part of a project that will see some 235 others erected in Tungshih County and 1,000 in other earthquake-hit areas.
The ceremony was hosted by first lady Tseng Wen-fui (
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Speaking later during a visit to the housing site, Premier Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) praised the efforts being made to rebuild local residents' shattered lives.
"This is a community of humanity, where all residents' basic needs can be met. Although it is a short-term plan, I hope it can help residents' lives return to normal," he said.
"There is even a 7-Eleven," he remarked. "This is good for residents, because they can buy whatever they need. They don't have to store everything in their homes."
The prefabricated houses were first constructed in Japan following the 1995 earthquakes in Kobe and Osaka. Because they are still in good condition, the Japanese government donated 1,000 of them to Taiwan's disaster-stricken districts.
Each housing unit contains eight pings (one ping=3.3 square meters) of space divided into two bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom, storage room and a closet. They are equipped with telephones and some electrical appliances.
Taiwan's Red Cross chapter has also donated 20-inch TV sets, refrigerators, fans and other appliances to each household.
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
ESWATINI VISIT: Taipei condemned Beijing’s coercive tactics after Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar unexpectedly revoked overflight permits for the president’s aircraft President William Lai (賴清德) has postponed an official trip to Eswatini, after several countries in Africa revoked overflight permits following “intense pressure” from China, a senior aide said yesterday. Lai was due to visit the Kingdom of Eswatini from today to Sunday for the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday. Eswatini is among Taiwan’s 12 remaining diplomatic allies and the only one in Africa. “According to sources, the Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar unexpectedly and without prior notice revoked the charter’s overflight permits,” Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) told a news conference. “The real reason is that the Chinese
RSS