A team of academics and experts on Saturday launched an independent inspection of hydraulic engineering projects funded by the government’s Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, the Taiwan Rivers Network said.
The volunteers are to evaluate 22 projects on the nation’s rivers and creeks until Thursday next week, National Association for the Promotion of Community Universities secretary-general Yang Chih-pin (楊志彬) said.
The inspection aims to provide an independent and objective evaluation of the development program, he said, excluding sewage works and incomplete projects, he said.
The team would examine projects in New Taipei City, Taichung and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hsinchu and Pingtung counties, Yang said.
The environmental impact portion of the evaluation would focus on whether a project affords due consideration to the ecology of a river, maintains a river corridor’s permeability to water and improves water quality, he said.
A social and cultural impact evaluation would examine a project’s effects on the aesthetics of the landscape, whether it was integrated with the local government’s landscaping projects and its effects on tourism, Yang said.
The team would grade projects on the transparency of their process and degree of compliance with laws and regulations, he said.
The overall design of a project would be scored according to its technical merit, usefulness to the local community and ability to utilize technological innovation, Yang added.
The best and worst projects would given golden apple and rotten apple awards, and project teams would be given an opportunity to explain or defend their design, he said, adding that the evaluation team expects to publish the results by September.
The development program funds 88 hydraulic engineering projects.
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
The Chinese wife of a Taiwanese, surnamed Liu (劉), who openly advocated for China’s use of force against Taiwan, would be forcibly deported according to the law if she has not left Taiwan by Friday, National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials said yesterday. Liu, an influencer better known by her online channel name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣), obtained permanent residency via marriage to a Taiwanese. She has been reported for allegedly repeatedly espousing pro-unification comments on her YouTube and TikTok channels, including comments supporting China’s unification with Taiwan by force and the Chinese government’s stance that “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.” Liu
FATE UNKNOWN: The owner of the dog could face a fine of up to NT$150,000 and the animal could be euthanized if he cannot show that he can effectively supervise it A pit bull terrier has been confiscated by authorities after it yesterday morning bit a motorcyclist in Taipei, following footage of the same dog in a similar attack going viral online earlier this month. When the owner, surnamed Hsu (徐), stopped at a red light on Daan District’s (大安) Wolong Street at 8am, the dog, named “Lucky,” allegedly rolled down the automatic window of the pickup truck they were riding in, leapt out of the rear passenger window and attacked a motorcyclist behind them, Taipei’s Daan District Police Precinct said. The dog clamped down on the man’s leg and only let go
RSS