A New Party Taipei City councilor yesterday accused the city’s Department of Environmental Protection of wasting money with its plan to provide new uniforms for city custodians next year. The plan has a budget of NT$40 million (US$1.3 million) — more than double the amount it spent last year.
The department spends an average of about NT$18 million a year on uniforms for its more than 6,500 street cleaners. However, the budget allocated for the uniforms next year will be NT$40.3 million, under a program to improve street cleaners’ image as part of the city’s efforts to claim the title of World Design Capital (WDC) in 2016.
Taipei City Councilor Wang Hong-wei (王鴻薇) questioned the budget plan and said the council would review the budget carefully to prevent the city government from wasting taxpayers’ money on the World Design Capital application.
“Why would we need to double the budget next year when the number of street cleaners remains the same? Besides, would replacing street cleaners’ uniforms help the city win the title of the World Design Capital?” she asked at the Taipei City Council.
According to the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, which leads a task force on the application to the WDC, the city government has allocated NT$290 million for next year for the application and divided the budget between various departments for projects that aim to improve the city’s landscape and image.
Department division chief Liu Ming-hsin (劉明興) said the “custodians’ image improvement” project under the Department of Environmental Protection was aimed at making street cleaners more recognizable as part of the city’s image.
Department of Environmental Protection Division Chief Chiu Yi-liu (邱一流) said the new uniforms were designed to use environmentally friendly materials, including recycled bottles, making them more expensive.
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS