The government is considering charging hikers for rescue operations in response to a recent increase in mountain hiking accidents, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday.
The ministry recently submitted a plan on national park hiking management and rescue to the Executive Yuan for consultation, the ministry said in a statement.
Search-and-rescue personnel work in difficult conditions to save hikers, National Park Service Director Wang Cheng-chi (王成機) said.
Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
Search-and-rescue mobilization and helicopter dispatch costs would be included in the new mechanism, Wang said, adding that the amounts are under review to ensure reasonable, nationally consistent standards.
Several recent incidents have highlighted the public’s lack of awareness regarding mountaineering safety, such as disregarding weather changes or lack of preparation, the ministry said.
In several cases, hikers’ lack of preparedness or safety led to the mobilization of search-and-rescue resources as well as contraventions of the National Park Act (國家公園法) or other local regulations, the statement said.
From 2019 to last year, there were 195 contraventions of mountain hiking management laws, totaling NT$2.01 million (US$61,930) in fines, in addition to another NT$1.6 million in fines for 781 contraventions of the National Park Act, it said.
As mountaineering activities and rescue involve agencies across several different ministries, the ministry invited officials and experts within the mountaineering community for two discussions to exchange opinions, it said.
Participants agreed that regulations, penalties and fees should be consistent nationwide, including a mechanism by which users pay for rescue services, it said.
The National Park Service is also developing an app that would provide maps, real-time weather alerts, safety guidance and automatically transmit users’ coordinates to improve rescue efficiency, the ministry said.
The government’s goal is not to restrict hiking, but to protect climbers and use technology to reduce risk, Wang said.
The ministry would also impose penalties on hikers who change routes, camp illegally, waste resources or act in a way that puts others at risk, with a maximum penalty of a three-year ban on entry to national parks, it said.
While the ministry promotes bringing people closer to nature, hikers should engage with nature responsibly and respectfully, it added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS