The Core Pacific City shopping mall may have to close some of its floors if it fails to pass an emergency safety inspection conducted by the Taipei City government last night.
The floors that are most likely to be closed are the 11th and 12th, where incomplete water and electrical systems could pose a potential danger to public safety.
Of particular concern to safety officials are sprinkler and fire-alarm systems that require functioning basic utilities to work.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
As for the floors where the systems are complete and pose no danger to the public, the city will conduct another inspection within a month -- the deadline under the city's Fire Safety Law.
The decision was made after Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) expressed his "discontent" to certain municipal agencies for their "soft stance" in dealing with the mall's management.
"What kind of government is this?" Ma was quoted as saying on Tuesday by city spokesman Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇).
However, his remark -- targeted at municipal officials -- brought a terse response from Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南), who held a press conference yesterday to criticize Ma.
"His comments imply that it's the central government's responsibility to take care of safety problems [at Core Pacific City]. However, the responsibility lies with the city government," he said.
Chen said that the ministry has received several telephone calls since Ma made the remark, criticizing the ministry for failing to deal with the problem.
"What the city government should have done is to cut the water and electrical supplies to the mall and call upon the police to seal the facility. What it did, however, was become a party to the mall's illegal operations," he said.
Almost simultaneously, Wu held a press conference at City Hall in a bid to clear up the misunderstanding.
"I think Minister Chen might not quite understand the law. Existing rules prevent us from adopting such drastic measures. We just have to take one step at a time," Wu said.
The Fire Safety Law and the Construction Law allow government authorities to first issue warnings and demand the rectification of violations within a certain period of time.
An order to close a business cannot be enforced unless improvements fail to be completed by the deadline.
"The city has done everything in accordance with the law and with public safety in mind," Wu said.
"The bottom line is that we have to take into account not only the consumers' safety but also the city's economy."
As of yesterday, the city's Department of Information had issued two tickets for the unauthorized showing of movies at the mall's theaters, pending a final decision by the Government Information Office (GIO).
The GIO claimed yesterday that it had approved a fine of NT$30,000 for the day the movies were shown.
The theater stopped showing movies the following day.
The city's fire department has also issued a warning, requesting that the mall improve its fire safety system within a month or face a fine of between NT$6,000 and NT$30,000.
In addition, the Department of Construction Management has issued two NT$60,000 tickets for the mall's failure to obtain an operations license before opening up for business.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
A clandestine US Navy special missions unit colloquially known as SEAL Team 6 has been training for missions to assist Taiwan’s defense against an attack by China, the Financial Times said in a report yesterday. The navy commando team famous for killing Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, has been conducting training to take part in a Taiwan conflict at its Dam Neck headquarters in Virginia Beach for more than one year, it said, citing sources familiar with the matter. “The secret training underlines the increased US focus on deterring China from attacking Taiwan, while stepping up preparations for such an event,”
RSS