About 350,000 people live in areas out of audible range of air-raid sirens, a National Audit Office report has found.
The people live in 38 towns and boroughs spread across seven cities and counties, the report said, citing information compiled by the National Police Agency in November last year.
The alarms are crucial for ensuring public safety in the event of an air attack or major natural disaster, it added.
Photo: Tsai Tseng-hien, Taipei Times
The National Police Agency’s Civil Defense Office completed a survey on Nov. 20 last year that used QGIS, an open-source geographic information system, to analyze the reach of the country’s 1,435 air-raid sirens.
The survey focused on boroughs and villages with a population of at least 9,605 people per square kilometer, and administrative areas with populations of at least 6,286 people.
The office found that in 38 communities across Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Hsinchu County, people were unable to hear air-raid sirens due to their distance from the nearest siren or other geographical factors.
The Ministry of the Interior on Monday urged the governments of the affected cities and county to make necessary improvements.
Before more sirens are installed, communities could rely on police sirens, school public address systems and community offices to assist in alerting community members, it said.
The ministry said that the military would also coordinate with cellphone service providers to send text message warnings when emergencies occur, adding that it would test the system during the next annual Wanan military drill, when the public receives warnings to stay indoors while drills take place.
The public is unfamiliar with emergency procedures and unaware of where they can take cover during an emergency, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said, adding that the government should educate the public about emergency response drills.
Such drills would be especially important for those living near administration offices and military facilities, which would most likely be attacked in an armed conflict, he said.
“The Wanan drills are scheduled and people know to stay indoors, but in the event of a sudden attack, people are unlikely to know where to find safety,” retired air force lieutenant general Chang Yan-ting (張延廷) said.
Given the threat of military conflict with China, the government must ensure that people are informed about how to respond, he said, adding that the government should hold drills for the public.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS