New Taipei City residents often dump garbage in Taoyuan to avoid paying for trash bags, Taoyuan City councilors said yesterday, urging the two cities’ environmental protection bureaus to tackle the problem.
The Taipei City Government in 2000 started to levy a trash tax from the sale of the bags, rather than including it into utility bills, requiring city residents to dispose of their trash in the specialized bags.
In 2010, New Taipei City also adopted the policy, leading to some residents dumping trash in Taoyuan, where the bags are not taxed, said Taoyuan City Councilor Lin Cheng-fong (林正峰), who represents the city’s Gueishan District (龜山).
Gueishan’s garbage trucks are often overburdened with trash coming from New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang (新莊), Shulin (樹林) and Linkou (林口) districts, he said, asking: “Is Taoyuan rich enough to deal with another city’s trash?”
Taoyuan City Councilor Liu Mao-chun (劉茂群), representing the city’s Bade District (八德), said his constituency has found a large amount of trash from the neighboring Yingge District (鶯歌) in New Taipei City.
People in Taoyuan’s Lujhu District (蘆竹) also complained about trash from Linkou, Taoyuan City Councilor Hsu Ching-shun (許清順) said.
“People are shifting their troubles to their neighbors,” Taoyuan Department of Environmental Protection Director-General Shen Chih-hsiu (沈志修) said.
Shen promised to work the problem out with New Taipei City’s corresponding bureau.
Meanwhile, he said that it would be difficult for the Taoyuan City Government to impose a trash bag fee in the near future.
To tax trash bags, the city would have to make a budget for them and arrange for more inspectors to patrol the streets, he said.
Restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to be included in the Michelin Guide’s review for the first time this year, alongside existing entries from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the France-based culinary publication said yesterday. This year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Taiwan is to be unveiled on Aug. 19 in Taipei. In addition to the coveted star ratings, Michelin Taiwan would announce its “Bib Gourmand” selections — a distinction awarded to establishments offering high-quality food at moderate prices — on Aug. 12. This year’s Bib Gourmand list would also feature restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu
A firefighter yesterday died after falling into New Taipei City's Xindian River when a rescue dinghy capsized during a search mission for a man who was later found dead. The New Taipei City Fire Department said that it received a report at 4:12pm that a 50-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), had fallen into the river. A 32-year-old firefighter, surnamed Wu (吳), was among the rescuers deployed to look for Chen, the fire department said, adding that he and five other rescue personnel were in the dinghy when it capsized. Wu had no vital signs after being pulled from the water to the
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
RSS