President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday announced plans to invest NT$500 billion in ten new public construction projects over the next five years.
Doling out promises to voters during a visit to Taoyuan, Chen announced some of the projects included in the development plan.
He reported plans for a mass rapid transit (MRT) system to connect the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport to Taipei City and Taoyuan's MRT system, adding that the Central Government would be covering NT$82.9 billion of the construction costs, which totals approximately NT$93.5 billion. Chen projected that construction would be completed by January, 2009.
He again promised to modernize the Taoyuan and Chungli area railway systems by building overpasses that would set the government back NT$28.4 billion.
As for how the projects would be financed, Chen said, "When compared with other developed nations, there is still room for deficit spending in Taiwan."
He recently called for the nation's debt ceiling to be raised from 15 percent of the GDP to 25 percent.
"I hope legislators of all parties will support the NT$500 billion development plan so that necessary public construction projects can soon be implemented, making Taiwan even more competitive," Chen said.
Chen also visited the construction site of Taoyuan County's Chingpu high-speed railway station, stating that "once the high-speed railway begins to operate in 2005, all of the western corridor will be but a day's travel away."
The high-speed railway, a 345km north-south railway system, would effectively cut travel time from Taipei to Kaohsiung to just 90 minutes, with stops in 14 cities along the way.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
China has reserved offshore airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts that are usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. The alerts, known as notice to air missions (NOTAMs), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert
RSS