Opposition parties yesterday called for the resignations of Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) and Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) chairman Yang Wei-fuu (楊偉甫) to take responsibility for the latest power outages, while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) demanded an explanation from the state-owned utility.
Widespread power outages were reported across the nation, which Taipower attributed to an equipment malfunction at the Hsinta Power Plant in Kaohsiung.
Wang should step down to assume responsibility, and Taipower should compensate the public and busineses, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus told a news conference, adding that the power failure had tarnished Taiwan’s global image.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
KMT caucus whip William Tseng (曾銘宗) said that a widespread power outage in August 2017 led to the resignation of then-minister of economic affairs Lee Chih-kung (李世光).
However, when the nation experienced two similar large-scale outages last year, Yang was merely punished, while Wang went unscathed, he added.
There had been temporary outages over the past few days, but Taipower failed to heed the warning and prevent a wide-scale power failure yesterday, KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said, questioning a claim by Wang that Taipower has an operating reserve of 10 percent and calling for a review of energy policies.
A power outage in March — when the weather was not yet as hot as in the summer and electricity demand peaks — suggests that there might be management issues at Taipower, KMT Legislator Lee De-wei (李德維) said.
Taipower should “get to the core of the problem, and let the public know the cause of the blackout and its proposed solutions,” Lee added.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) urged the DPP government to face the reality that the country has a serious power shortage problem, despite repeatedly denying it.
An unstable power supply jeopardizes business operations and inconveniences the public, he said.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) said that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) promised at a meeting with industrial and commercial groups on Tuesday that power supply would be stable.
It was just a slogan to lure votes in the upcoming elections, Tsai told a news conference.
“Taipower would rather donate NT$80 million [US$2.9 million] to Shoushan Zoo in Kaohsiung than fix the electricity supply problem as soon as possible,” she added.
TPP Legislator Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) said that Taipower should investigate the incident and reveal the truth, instead of blaming low-level employees, annual maintenance or equipment failure whenever a blackout occurred.
The DPP urged the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Taipower to solve the problem immediately and “do everything they can to provide adequate services free of human errors or uncertainties.”
The DPP caucus demands a clear and comprehensive report on the incident, especially from Taipower, to clarify whether the cause of the outage was related to the power grid or power generation, DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said.
Additional reporting by CNA
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS