Taipei is to establish public daycare centers for infants aged two years and under in each of the city’s 12 districts by next year as part of a drive to offer a safe environment for the children of overburdened parents, with four centers set to open in Wanhua (萬華), Datong (大同), Songshan (松山) and Beitou (北投) districts as early as September, the city’s Department of Social Welfare said.
Tu Tzu-jung (杜慈容), a divisional chief at the department, said each daycare center would accommodate up to 40 toddlers, with certified teachers and nursing staff stationed at the childcare facilities.
Monthly fees will be in the region of NT$10,000 per child, but with the city providing a child-care subsidy of NT$2,500 alongside other allowances, parents are likely to only have to foot between NT$4,500 and NT$5,000 of the bill.
The department chose to prioritize the opening of centers in Wanhua and Datong districts because there are currently no public or private daycare centers in the two urban areas and the need for infant support is urgent, Tu said.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the public daycare center program, together with a birth subsidy plan, was aimed at easing the burden faced by parents, while also encouraging more young people to raise children in the capital.
“Taipei suffers from a low birth rate and opening public daycare centers is part of an effort to help parents in the city take care of their kids so they will be willing to raise children,” he said.
The number of children born in Taipei increased from 18,530 in 2010 to 25,000 last year after the city introduced a subsidy program that awards NT$20,000 to women in the city when they give birth, department statistics showed.
Taipei residents are eligible to apply for the daycare service, Tu said. The city will also allocate 10 percent of the childcare places for those on low incomes, she added.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about