Presidential candidates should present plans for addressing the understaffing and underfunding of the nation’s firefighting force, firefighters and their supporters said yesterday at a protest outside the Ministry of the Interior.
Carrying buckets bearing the insignias of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party, activists from the National Association for Firefighters’ Rights and labor rights groups poured red paint onto a firefighter, who then smeared the paint onto the photographs of the faces of the two parties’ presidential candidates.
Both candidates have failed to present platforms on reforming the nation’s firefighting force, which has seen increased deaths in recent years due to underfunding and understaffing, they said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
“We do not want to be called ‘firefighting heroes’ anymore, because in reality we are extremely vulnerable,” association vice president Yu Tzung-han (余宗翰) said, adding that almost half of the 116 firefighter deaths since 1952 have occurred in the past 16 years.
“On average, every firefighter works between 360 and 480 hours per month, and long working hours means workers who are fatigued on duty and who could run into danger any moment,” he said.
A lack of manpower makes it impossible to designate “safety officers” to keep tabs on other firefighter’s oxygen levels and conditions after they enter a conflagration, he said.
Yu said he sleeps an average of only four hours per night when on duty, which is typically fragmented into one and two hour intervals because of interruptions.
Firefighters are required to stand by on call for 48 hours before being allowed a single day off.
Association secretary-general Cheng Ya-ling(鄭雅菱) said firefighters are overworked because of the government’s unwillingness to hire more staff.
Only an estimated 13,018 firefighters are employed nationally, compared with the 28,978 the National Fire Agency estimates is necessary to allow firefighters to rotate daily, she said.
National Fire Agency Director-General Ye Chi-tang (葉吉堂) said that there would be no manpower shortage after the government completes plans to hire an additional 4,000 firefighters over the next three years.
He added that beds are provided at stations to allow firefighters to sleep when on call, allowing them to get adequate rest.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS