Only two out of 20 restaurants that often host companies’ annual year-end banquets, or weiya (尾牙), have passed construction, fire and food safety inspections, the Consumer Protection Committee said yesterday.
The inspections were conducted last month in Taipei, New Taipei City, Kaohsiung, and Hsinchu, Changhua and Hualien counties, the committee said.
“Sixteen restaurants failed the construction safety inspection, 10 failed fire safety requirements and 14 failed in food hygiene,” consumer ombudsman Wang Te-ming (王德明) told a news conference in Taipei.
Haidaotzu (海釣族海鮮小館), a restaurant in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋), was found to have been operating in an illegal building for more than a decade.
“It did not obtain a construction permit, which is relatively rare,” Wang said. “A fine of NT$60,000 will be imposed, and then a demolition team will tear down the building.”
CK Lee Garden (國麗園大飯店) in Chuanghua County and Fong Chuan Restaurant (豐川菜館) were found to be operating in buildings listed as farmhouses, while the first three floors of Three Coin Restaurant (大三元) in Taipei did not have necessary permits, he said.
Restaurants found to have fire safety issues were Eyaji HK Style Restaurant (易牙居臻愛婚宴會館) and Haidaotzu in New Taipei City; Ciaotienhsia (炒天下), KKS Hotel (國廣興大飯店) and Fong Chuan Restaurant in Hualien County; Ocean City Banquet Hall (海都宴會館) and Parris Restaurant (饌巴黎大飯店) in Hsinchu County; New Palace Restaurant’s Yuanlin Branch (天地婚宴會館員林店); and CK Lee Garden and Linyi Restaurant (林儀餐廳) in Changhua County, Wang said.
The restaurants’ fire safety had shortcomings such as sub-standard indoor fire extinguishers; inadequate alarm systems; the absence of smoke dampers, flame-resistant textiles for carpets, curtains and tablecloths, and other fire protection equipment.
Ten of the restaurants with construction or fire safety issues were given time to bring their safety measures up to standards, Wang said.
As for food hygiene issues, 14 restaurants breached the Regulations on Good Hygiene Practice for Food (食品衛生良好規範準則), he said.
The three in Taipei are Ever Green Vegetarian Restaurant (長春素食), Hai Pa Wang Restaurant’s Zhongshan branch (海霸王中山店) and Yun Fu Lou Restaurant (永福樓).
Also cited were Eyaji HK Style Restaurant and Double Lucky Restaurant (喜相逢婚宴會館) in New Taipei City, Fan Wedding Restaurant (小范海鮮饕宴館), Parris Restaurant and Ocean City Banquet Hall in Hsinchu County, New Palace Restaurant’s Yuanlin Branch and Linyi Restaurant in Changhua County, and Ciaotienhsia, KKS Hotel and Fong Chuan Restaurant in Hualien County.
Seven of the 14 were found to have stale ingredients in their kitchens and were fined NT$60,000 each for violating the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法).
Wang said records show that the number of people that have died in restaurant-related accidents came second to aviation accidents, so it is important that people choose safe restaurants, especially during the weiya season.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,