The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday called on Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) to stop lying and take responsibility for solving the problems stemming from the city's asbestos water pipes.
DPP caucus whip William Lai (
"Mayor Hu is known for his articulateness and sense of humor, but it requires more than those qualities to run a city. The ability to carry out a policy plan, honesty and responsibility are equally important. But I'm sorry to see that Hu lacks the latter features," Lai said.
Lai also called on Hu to accept the challenge of his election rival Lin Chia-lung (
Lin has been trying to get Hu to hold a policy debate on city affairs, but to no avail.
Producing copies of official documents issued by the Taiwan Water Corp (TWC) in March and June, as well as last month, Lai said that the water company has tried to urge the city to speed up the process of replacing certain sections of its water mains made of asbestos, which is considered a carcinogenic material. These pipes provide tap water for about 150,000 people.
Hu on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Economic Affairs Minister Ho Mei-yueh (
Ho yesterday said that the city government should carry the blame for the delay in replacing the asbestos pipes, because the water company had earmarked the budget last year, but the city kept postponing the project.
"I strongly recommend that Mayor Hu withdraw the lawsuit to prevent wasting judicial and administrative resources," she said.
According to Ho, the asbestos water mains were installed in the 1980s by the Taiwan Provincial Government. In 1993, the Environmental Protection Administration requested that the TWC start replacing asbestos water pipes after asbestos was listed as a toxic chemical.
The water company began the replacement project in 1994 and has almost completed the project, except for the remaining 4km of piping in Taichung City.
DPP Legislator Wang Shu-hui (王淑慧) said that she feels sorry for Taichung residents, because their mayor is someone who "lies, eludes responsibilities and knows nothing more than asking for more money from the central government."
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) called Hu "shameless."
She yesterday urged the city to replace the water mains as quickly as possible and berated Hu for shifting the blame to someone else.
Hu yesterday said that he had not been aware that there were still two asbestos water mains left in the city. He blamed the water company for "cheating" the city for the past 17 years by not informing officials of the situation.
Hu promised to start the replacement project as soon as possible, preferably last night at the earliest.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
RSS