The government should improve its ability to handle and prevent landslides and floods such as those brought on by Typhoon Toraji, opposition lawmakers said yesterday.
Lee Cheng-chong (李正宗), whip of the KMT legislative caucus, said infrastructure projects related to natural disaster prevention should be given priority in the next budget.
In addition, the Cabinet should put forth plans to prevent and control natural disasters and deliver a special report on the proposals to the legislature after the session reopens in September, Lee said.
The lawmaker asked authorities to speed up their efforts to repair damaged transportation facilities, search for missing people and make up for the losses of farmers and fishermen in the affected areas.
Chou Hsi-wei (
The government's lack of professional ability to prevent and forecast the possible occurrence of landslides was responsible for the severe disasters, Chou said.
Also, Chou said the Cabinet should look into the alleged negligence of Hualien County Commissioner Wang Ching-feng (
At the time of the typhoon, Wang was in Taipei attending the KMT's 16th national congress, and Pang was taking part in a "spiritual reconstruction" tour at a Hsitou mountain resort.
Juan, meanwhile, was blamed for not ordering schools to suspend classes, which critics say led to the deaths and injury of some schoolchildren.
In response to the criticism, the DPP legislative caucus said it regretted the severe disaster and losses resulting from the typhoon, and urged people to put aside political differences to work together to help the victims.
Tsai Huang-liang (
According to an opposition-proposed resolution adopted by the legislature, the Cabinet is required to obtain the legislature's approval before drawing on the fund.
Early last month, at the request of the Cabinet, the legislature approved the spending of NT$3 billion from the fund to cope with disasters expected during the typhoon season.
On the reconstruction work, Tsai proposed that the Cabinet follow the example of handling the earthquake of Sept. 21, 1999 and set up a special task force to supervise reconstruction projects in hard-hit areas.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS