Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) yesterday defended amendments to the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法), which passed their third reading at the Legislative Yuan on Monday, calling them a “home run.”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) has criticized the bill, which increases the scope of anti-pollution measures and raises fines, calling it a political move timed ahead of the upcoming nine-in-one elections.
Asked about Chiang’s criticism during a Hit FM radio interview, Ker said discussion on the bill began when former premier Lin Chuan (林全) was in office.
Photo courtesy of Hit FM
The Executive Yuan discussed the bill with several government departments and received feedback from the affected industries and local governments, Ker said, adding that the process took more than a year.
The bill could only be sent to the legislature for review after thorough communication between party caucuses, he said.
Chiang is “too inexperienced” and does “not understand how the government operates,” Ker said.
The bill was discussed four times at legislative committee meetings, eight times in meetings with the premier and 40 times during visits to the legislature by Environmental Protection Administration Minister Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), Ker said, adding that was a record for total discussion of a bill.
Among items included in the amendments are a timeline for transitioning to a fully electric public transit system and stipulations requiring the installation of exhaust filtration systems on all large freight vehicles and buses, he said.
The KMT’s concerns about the bill’s allowances for substitutions between stationary and mobile sources of pollution are misguided, because mechanisms remain in place to regulate the overall volume of pollution, Ker said.
Substitutions were allowed under the original law, but the rules were never implemented, he said.
The amendments also broaden the scope of how the negative effects of air pollution are measured, he added.
Ker said he spoke with Lee, Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and Premier William Lai (賴清德) in the final stages of the bill’s review, adding that Lin convinced the DPP to discuss the bill further before its passage.
“Such an important national policy cannot be decided by one side alone,” Ker said, urging the KMT to look at things more carefully before discrediting others.
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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