■ Transportation
Transit officials disciplined
Six high-ranking officials with the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp were disciplined Sunday and yesterday for a New Year's Eve escalator accident that injured five passengers at an MRT station in Taipei. Tsai Hui-sheng (蔡輝昇), general manager of the rapid transit company, which is run by the Taipei City Government, received a major demerit from the city government's Department of Transportation for the accident, in which one woman fell and got her hair caught in the moving stairs, tearing off part of her scalp. The rapid-transit corporation was also fined NT$400,000 by the department. Five other rapid transit officials in charge of supervision, transportation and management were given minor demerits yesterday. The ruling was made after a probe into the escalator accident conducted by transportation department officials, officials from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and academics from three Taipei universities. Tsai and the other officials have been under mounting criticism since the Jan. 1 accident despite repeatedly apologizing to the injured and their families. In response to the ruling, Tsai said yesterday that he fully accepts the punishment and will review his and the rapid-transit corporation's ability to react to accidents on the MRT.
■ Politics
DPP reaches out to blues
To achieve inter-party cooperation and legislative stability, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is willing to compromise in the upcoming election for president and vice president of the Legislative Yuan, a DPP legislative caucus whip said yesterday. Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) explained that his party will act on the results of party-to-party negotiations, and that it may support a nominee of the opposition People First Party (PFP) to take the post of president of the Legislative Yuan if the talks lead to such a result. He noted that although his party will probably vote for a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate to head the new opposition-controlled legislature, they might back candidates from the PFP, with which the DPP has been trying to bolster party cooperation, if such an arrangement would benefit political stability.
■ Crime
Police start campaign
Police will launch a 40-day operation today beefing up law and order in the weeks leading up to the Lunar New Year holiday. During the first stage, which will run until Jan. 25, operations will focus on drunk driving, theft, burglary and robbery, police said. During the second stage, which will run until Feb. 19, operations will focus on improving public order and ensuring smooth traffic to ensure people have a happy Lunar New Year holiday, they said.
■ Transportation
Right turns to be legal
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that drivers and motorcyclists will no longer be fined for turning right on a red light. Under current traffic rules, those who turn right on a red light can be fined from NT$1,800 to NT$5,400. The ministry said that it will no longer outlaw right turns and revise traffic regulations within the year. "Except for some busy intersections where right turns at a red light are explicitly prohibited, right turns on a red light will be permitted at all intersections," Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chang Chia-chu (張家祝) said.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
RSS