The Ministry of the Interior’s efforts to reach settlement deals with the National Women’s League and Dapu Borough (大埔) residents involved in a development project have “yielded concrete results,” Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) said yesterday at an annual policy review news conference.
“Instead of pressing criminal charges against the league, the ministry has chosen to respect the group and its history and focus on the most important issue — returning the money to the people,” Yeh said.
The ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with the league on Friday last week, following a lengthy trilateral negotiation with the group and the Executive Yuan’s Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee, which had dragged on for months.
Photo: CNA
Based on the agreement, the league is to give 90 percent of its assets to the national treasury, of which more than NT$2 million (US$67,590) is to be used to fund the government’s long-term care program, Yeh added.
The ministry has also reached an agreement with three families involved in the controversial Dapu development project last year, he said.
After a settlement had been reached between the government and residents in June last year, the Miaoli County Government rezoned the area and returned the land to them on Dec. 22, he added.
The residents received their compensation last week and work to rebuild their demolished houses is to begin soon, Yeh said.
“Hopefully we will see Peng Hsiu-chun (彭秀春) move into a new house this year,” he added.
Peng is the widow of Chang Sen-wen (張森文), who committed suicide in September 2013 after his family’s pharmacy was demolished two months earlier by order of then-Miaoli County commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻).
The ministry has helped promote a number of important bills, including amendments to the Housing Act (住宅法) and the Nationality Act (國籍法), as well as the Political Party Act (政黨法), Yeh said, adding that the Political Party Act is a milestone for the nation’s democracy, as it was passed on the 30th anniversary of the lifting of martial law.
The ministry has discussed plans with local governments to curb illegal structures that might pose a threat to public safety, Yeh said, adding that the ministry is looking into amending the Building Act (建築法).
“Central and local governments need to work together, because demolishing illegal structures costs money. So ensuring sufficient funding for local governments is an area we need to work on,” he added.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
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