Environmental groups yesterday held a protest in front of the Executive Yuan in Taipei, urging the Cabinet to pass a draft bill on ocean conservation by the end of this legislative term.
“Taiwan is surrounded by the sea and the Pacific Ocean, and it is urgent to pass key bills to protect marine resources and ensure sustainable development,” said Kuo Chia-wen (郭佳雯), board member of the Matsu Fish Conservation Union, Taiwan.
“Key regulations covering the ocean and its resources are laid out in several draft bills, offering different levels of protection and varying control standards, but they still cannot ensure full conservation and protection of marine ecosystems,” she said.
Photo: Chen Chia-yi, Taipei Times
Only the draft Marine Industry Development bill (海洋產業發展條例) has passed a third reading in the legislature, while the most important one — a bill on ocean conservation — is still awaiting a proposal from the Executive Yuan, she added.
“Taiwan’s coral reefs in coastal areas are under severe threat due to seawater warming. With the world’s major oceans in July setting record-high temperatures, many marine species are facing the danger of extinction,” New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said at the protest.
“The waters surrounding Taiwan and our coasts are under unremitting assault due to worsening pollution, degradation due to the construction of offshore wind turbines, overfishing leading to depletion of fish stocks and Chinese vessels engaged in illegal sand dredging,” he said.
“We lack funding and personnel to take up marine conservation work, which is not covered by legal measures that can mete out punishments or have a deterrent effect,” he said, adding that his party is ready with its version of a draft bill.
“We are now into the final few months of this legislative term, but the Executive Yuan has yet to finalize its draft bill. In failing to do so, lawmakers cannot put its deliberation on the agenda,” he said.
Taiwan Environmental Information Association’s project manager Kuan Chun-an (官淳安) said that an ocean conservation bill could help replenish fish and marine resources, so that the fishing industry would not have to contend with dwindling catch or catching smaller fish.
Hopefully, such legislation can fully protect all marine ecosystems, he said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
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