People who barbecue in Taipei’s riverside parks during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday would be fined up to NT$6,000, the Taipei Public Works Department said on Thursday.
Barbecuing during this year’s holiday, which is from Saturday to Tuesday, would for the first time be banned, due to COVID-19 concerns, the department said.
Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) on Wednesday said that barbecuing in public spaces is in general forbidden, with the exception of riverside parks during the annual holiday.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
However, that would also be forbidden this year, as the city seeks to limit large gatherings to curb the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2.
The department on Thursday said that those who are found barbecuing in riverside parks would be fined NT$1,200 to NT$6,000 on the spot, based on the Taipei City Park Management Ordinance.
However, there is doubt over whether fines would be widely enforced.
Earlier this week, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that it would be impossible for police to patrol all the city’s riverside parks all night.
Huang also said that barbecuing in privately owned, but publicly used spaces, including many of the city’s roofed sidewalks, is not banned.
She urged people who are planning to barbecue in such a space to observe social distancing, or instead consider having a meal indoors.
Local governments, except for those in the outlying islands of Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu, have also banned barbecuing in public spaces during the holiday. The New Taipei City and Keelung City governments have urged people to also refrain from barbecuing on privately owned sidewalks where the ban does not apply.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
RSS