The Taitung County Government on Tuesday began testing the systems at the county’s long-dormant incinerator, saying that it is to begin trial operations in June provided the systems are functioning correctly.
The county said that launching operations at the plant would relieve trash problems in the area and would, over the long run, help keep Taitung clean.
The incinerator has faced myriad problems. There was more than 21 years of deliberation before construction began in 2001. Since its completion and trial operations in 2006, the county government had refused to approve funds for it to become operational, meaning it was idle for more than 16 years.
Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
The lack of a local incinerator had forced Taitung to transport trash to be burned elsewhere in Taiwan.
If other local governments refuse to burn Taitung’s trash — as Kaohsiung has done — the county faces a trash issue, the Taitung County Government has said.
The county and the firm that was contracted to operate the incinerator sued each other, with a final ruling in 2011 stating that the contract should be terminated and that the county must buy back the plant and the land for NT$1.96 billion (US$70.45 million).
Taitung Mayor Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴) on Tuesday said that the plant would only begin trial operations once it is fully ready.
Having a local facility that can process trash would markedly alleviate Taitung’s trash problem, Yao said.
The Society of Wilderness’ Taitung branch said that the county should establish transparent oversight measures for incinerator reciprocation funds.
The society said that a committee should be established to oversee the plant’s operations.
The county should make its plans public, including how ash is to be dealt with, the society said.
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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
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