Preparations were completed yesterday for a New Year's Eve fireworks display. They had been started two weeks ago by the combined services force (CSF) upon a request at short-notice from the Presidential Office.
The CSF announced the show was ready yesterday at a press conference held at Riverside Park (
PHOTO: HAKU HUANG, TAIPEI TIMES
It will be the first time that the CSF has launched pyrotechnics on New Year's eve. It is also the third fireworks display this year since the May 20 presidential inauguration.
The show, estimated to cost over NT$10 million, is to last half an hour, during which 3,000 fireworks will be fired into the sky.
The CSF could not explain the purpose of the first-ever New Year's fireworks display, not least because the group had only been given two weeks to prepare for it.
An official with the CSF, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Taipei Times that they got the order to prepare for the show early this month and that they were shocked to learn what it was they were being asked to do. The order came from the Presidential Office.
"We almost ran out of our fireworks supplies during the last two displays earlier this year. We had no choice but to seek help from civilian fireworks companies. They provided us with raw materials or semi-finished products," the official said. "It is embarrassing to admit it."
"We hope that if there is any similar request from above in the future, we will be given enough time to prepare for it. Enough preparation will ensure a better performance," he said.
"Weather conditions have also to be taken into account. We always hold fireworks displays on the annual Oct. 10 national day. Weather conditions at that time are much more predictable than in winter," he said.
"We are worried about the weather over the past few days. Clouds and rain will affect the overall effects in the show."
The official also said that the CSF initially had no money to prepare for the fireworks show and that the problem was solved after the Presidential Office granted a NT$10 million subsidy.
The two fireworks displays earlier this year cost much more money, around NT$60 million to NT$70 million each, he said.
Including the pyrotechnics to be held tomorrow, fireworks shows held this year will have cost the government nearly NT$150 million in total.
The fireworks display will take place at 7:30pm, tomorrow, at Riverside Park adjacent to the Tamsui river, which is accessed through the No. 3 flood gate of the river. A traffic control will be in effect in the vicinity. People are asked to ride public transportation to the site, because parking space is sparse.
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