People smoking outside a newly designated area around Taipei Railway Station could face fines of up to NT$10,000, beginning on Saturday.
The zone is part of a raft of city government measures that aim to improve the quality of life in Taipei.
The restricted area is bordered by Gongyuan Road to the east; Zhongxiao W Road Sec 1 to the south; Chengde Road and Chongqing N Road Sec 1 to the west; and Civic Boulevard Sec 1 and Beiping W Road to the north.
Photo: CNA
People caught smoking in the restricted area would be fined NT$2,000 to NT$10,000 in accordance with the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法), the Taipei Department of Environmental Protection said.
The ban is one of three new measures the city is to implement from Saturday.
The second involves a NT$5 parking discount for scooter and motorcycle riders who park their vehicles in public parking areas in the city and transfer to the MRT system within one hour of paying for parking with an EasyCard.
The preferential treatment, which is being expanded from roadside parking to public parking areas, aims to encourage commuters to complete their journeys by MRT, the Taipei Department of Transportation said.
The city is also to create “air-quality control zones” covering Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) and three city-owned garbage incinerators in Neihu (內湖) and Beitou (北投) districts, as well as the Muzha (木柵) area.
Starting from Saturday, diesel-fueled vehicles that have not had their emissions ratings certified by the city government and motorbikes that have not passed an annual check are to be restricted from entering the air-quality control zones.
People who contravene the new restrictions would be fined NT$500 for two and three-wheeled vehicles, NT$1,000 for small diesel-fueled pickups, and NT$2,000 for large diesel-powered trucks or buses.
The fines are to take effect following a three-month grace period that is to end on March 31, the environmental protection department said.
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
RSS