Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) announced yesterday that no further expansion of the Shida Night Market, one of the city’s busiest tourist attractions, would be permitted, in a bid a protect the rights of residents.
In addition to the expansion ban, Hau also instructed officials to ensure businesses in the area stick to strict management regulations and carefully screen new business applications.
Hau’s decision came after strong opposition from local residents, who accused businesses in the area of adversely impacting their quality of life and staged a demonstration on Oct. 26.
Hau said problems relating to noise, unpleasant odors from restaurants and issues with public safety violate the rights of residents and he instructed officials to conduct regular inspections and random checks.
Taipei City Government spokesman Chang Chi-chiang (張其強) said the local police precinct would also be told to make a greater effort to enforce the ban on illegal street vendors.
The city government had received complaints about 506 of the 647 businesses registered to work in the night market, Chang added.
Tax revenues from the night market near National Taiwan Normal University totaled NT$12.3 billion (US$408.6 million) in 2009, rising to NT$14.7 billion last year, figures from the Taipei National Tax Administration showed.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai
RSS