A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday urged the central government to take control of bridge maintenance from local governments, half of which do not earmark any funding for bridge inspections or maintenance.
Among the 942 bridges built more than 40 years ago around the country, 600 are managed by the central government, with responsibility for the remainder falling on local governments, the lawmakers said, citing information from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
"There are safety concerns over about 300 bridges, as half of the local governments are plagued by financial difficulties and are short of funds for maintenance," KMT caucus whip Hsu Shao-ping (
"Of the 300 bridges, 68 -- 10 of which are more than 60 years old -- are in urgent need of overhaul," Hsu said.
"Aside from these bridges, local governments are also responsible for some 8,000 bridges, many of which do not have records of when they were built. These are all dangerous bridges," Hsu said.
KMT Legislator Justin Chou (
"It's not too late to do this before any accident happens," Chou said.
Ministry records show that among 26 local governments, only Taipei City, Taipei County, Keelung City, Ilan County, Hsinchu County, Taichung City, Taichung County, Changhua County, Nantou County, Tainan City and Kaohsiung City have spent money on inspecting bridge safety.
The Public Construction Commission issued a press release saying it has been monitoring all bridges -- about 26,000 -- in the country.
The commission said that a system, which contains basic information on all bridges and records of their maintenance, was put into practice in 2001, allowing agencies in charge of the bridges to check on their condition any time.
It said that the government plans to rehabilitate old bridges by investing NT$7.96 billion (US$240 million) from this year to 2009 to rebuild 121 "dangerous" bridges and spend on the maintenance of another 1000.
Also see story:
70,000 US bridges rated as `structurally deficient'
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry