The Central Epidemic Command Center’s (CECC) instruction that local governments can decide whether hostess clubs and dance halls can reopen is a typical example of the central government’s unwillingness to take responsibility, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
Ko made the remark in response to media queries on the sidelines of a blessing ceremony held at Taipei’s Sung Shan Tsu Huei Temple (松山慈惠堂) yesterday morning.
The CECC on April 9 ordered all hostess clubs and dance halls to suspend operations after a case of locally transmitted COVID-19 involving a hostess in northern Taiwan was confirmed the day before.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, on Friday said that local governments should assess whether businesses temporarily suspended due to disease prevention conform to disease prevention and safety requirements before giving them the green light to reopen.
“I know firsthand that the central government’s instruction that ‘local governments can decide whether to allow hostess clubs and dance halls to resume operations’ is a typical example of its unwillingness to take responsibility,” Ko said.
“Ordering the businesses to suspend operations was easy, but no one wants to take the responsibility for reopening them,” he said, adding that he told a meeting of Taipei City Government officials that the businesses should be allowed to reopen, but they told him that none of the other mayors had dared to make the decision.
Taiwan had not reported a new domestic case in 27 days, so hostess clubs and dance halls should be allowed to resume operations, Ko said.
Whether school campuses and other public spaces should be reopened to the public also requires further discussion, he said, adding that he would convene department officials to discuss the issue and establish standard operating procedures.
Local governments have difficulty verifying the eligibility of uninsured workers who apply to the central government’s NT$10,000 COVID-19 relief grant, but Taipei would handle most of the cases, only sending a few to be reviewed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, he added.
Asked about Ko’s remarks, Chen later yesterday said that the central government has issued the guidelines, but that local governments know the businesses in their area better.
“You cannot expect us [CECC heads] to inspect hostess clubs every day,” he said, adding that only local governments know if they have the personnel to inspect the businesses and ensure that they comply with the requirements.
The same is true of reviewing uninsured workers who file grant applications — local governments are better situated to conduct the initial review, giving out the payment if an applicant is clearly eligible and only seeking a final review from the ministry if truly necessary, Chen added.
Local government leaders are elected by voters, so they have the right to raise questions about the relief program or make suggestions, Chen said, adding that the ministry would discuss any problems they brought up and humbly accept any suggestions.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS