The Cabinet yesterday approved a proposal that would earmark NT$50 billion (US$1.56 billion) to a six-year plan to resolve a sedimentation problem plaguing Zengwun Reservoir (曾文水庫), Nanhua Reservoir (南化水庫) and Wushantou Reservoir (烏山頭水庫).
Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) told a press conference following the Cabinet meeting that the three major dams in southern Taiwan were threatened by a significant increase in silt deposits after Typhoon Morakot hit the country last August.
The Water Resources Agency (WRA) said that 91 million cubic meters had accumulated in Zengwun Reservoir and 36 million cubic meters in Nanhua Reservoir after the typhoon, which together had amounted to the total storage capacity of Nanhua Reservoir.
In the Wushantou Reservoir, silt deposits have filled about 44 percent of its storage capacity, it said.
Shih said the draft statute drawn by the ministry would impose a series of prohibitions on development to preserve and restore the upstream part of the watershed areas of the three reservoirs.
If the legislature passes the bill, any new projects to build sediment storage dams should be compatible with the Aboriginal Basic Act (原住民基本法), and these areas would be made off limits to any road construction or expansion projects.
The Cabinet yesterday also approved a proposal by the Sports Affairs Council to promote baseball, which is reeling from a game-fixing scandal involving several players from different teams.
Prosecutors on Wednesday indicted 24 professional baseball players over their alleged involvement in match-fixing scandals.
Sports Affairs Council Minister Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) said the council and the Ministry of Education had proposed not appointing players found guilty of involvement in gambling scandals as teachers or coaches in schools, as well as banning them from playing in the amateur baseball league for life.
Tai said that prosecutors would be stationed in playing fields when the baseball season starts late next month to prevent gangsters from influencing the games.
She added that the government would soon amend the Sports Lottery Issue Act (運動彩券發行條例) to impose heavier penalties on players involved in gambling scandals.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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