TomTom Traffic Index released a report on the world’s most congested cities

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/03/28
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The TomTom Traffic Index released a report on the world’s most congested cities, showing five cities in Taiwan were on the list, with Tainan at the ninth most congested city in the world.

Followed by Tainan, other four cities are Kaohsiung, ranked the 20th, Taipei the 24th, Taichung the 36th, and Taoyuan the 80th.

The TomTom Traffic Index is based on 19 trillion data points collected over nine years from 390 cities in 48 countries and is now in its sixth year. Data collected for the index is based upon 730,000 hours of driving time during 2016.

Cities are given a percentage for Congestion, indicating the extra amount of travel time compared with a ‘Free Flow’ situation without traffic.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/03/28
By: Huang Ya-chuan and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, March 28 (CNA) With water reserves at major reservoirs in southern Taiwan

continuing to decrease, the Water Resources Agency (WRA) said Tuesday that first-phase water rationing will be launched in Tainan and Chiayi County as planned on April 5.

Water reserves at Tsengwen Reservoir in Chiayi had dropped to 30 percent of capacity by 8 p.m. Tuesday, according to WRA data, while reserves at Nanhwa Reservoir in Tainan were down to 37 percent.

Although there were 10 million more cubic meters of water at Tsengwen Reservoir on Tuesday than the average reserves on the same day over the past five years, “the 10 million tons of water cannot hold up much longer,” said WRA Deputy Director-General Wang Yi-feng (王藝峰).    [FULL  STORY]

IGNOREDEast coast residents are environmentally aware and the Feitsui Reservoir would have been worse without the construction of the Hsuehshan Tunnel, lawmaker Chen Ou-po said

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 28, 2017
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

The government would create a budget for a direct railway line connecting Taipei and

Yilan County if the project passes an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Committee and other agencies, Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said yesterday.

Hochen told the legislature’s Transportation Committee that about half of the NT$880 billion (US$29 billion) for the “Forward-Looking Infrastructure Construction Project,” has been allocated to railway-related projects.

The Cabinet listed 38 projects for cities and counties governed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but a direct Taipei-Yilan railway line proposed by lawmakers representing Yilan County was excluded from the list.

DPP Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀), who recently announced his bid to run for Yilan County commissioner, criticized the government for its ignorance of the needs of the county’s residents, first by former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “i-Taiwan” 12 Infrastructure Projects and now by President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) proposal.
[FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: March 28, 2017
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Former President Ma Ying-jeou has been found not guilty of leaking

confidential information or defamation by the Taipei District Court on Tuesday.

Plaintiff Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Ker Chien-ming has vowed to appeal the result.

Ma was indicted earlier in the month for violating the Communication Security and Surveillance Act and the Control Act.

Ker’s lawyer said the court’s decision was unacceptable and that the lawmaker would absolutely appeal the case.

The DPP issued a statement saying that the former president had interfered with the judicial process and brought harm to the nation’s Constitution and political stability. The party stated that it looked forward to the administration of justice.    [SOURCE]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-03-27

President Tsai Ing-wen says the government can ensure a steady supply of electricity

this summer now that two generators at Linkou Power Plant are capable of generating power at maximum capacity.

Tsai made the assurance on Monday during an inspection tour of the coal-fired power plant in New Taipei City.

Tsai said that until green energy can meet Taiwan’s electricity needs, the expansion and renovation of coal-fired power plants must be carried out on schedule or even earlier.

Tsai said that electricity generated by natural gas will account for 50% of the total by 2025, fossil fuel 30%, and green energy 20%. She said that although fossil fuels create air pollution, the problem can be solved with the help of technology.    [FULL  STORY]

IGNOREDEast coast residents are environmentally aware and the Feitsui Reservoir would have been worse without the construction of the Hsuehshan Tunnel, lawmaker Chen Ou-po said

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 28, 2017
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

The government would create a budget for a direct railway line connecting Taipei and

Yilan County if the project passes an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Committee and other agencies, Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said yesterday.

Hochen told the legislature’s Transportation Committee that about half of the NT$880 billion (US$29 billion) for the “Forward-Looking Infrastructure Construction Project,” has been allocated to railway-related projects.

The Cabinet listed 38 projects for cities and counties governed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but a direct Taipei-Yilan railway line proposed by lawmakers representing Yilan County was excluded from the list.

DPP Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀), who recently announced his bid to run for Yilan County commissioner, criticized the government for its ignorance of the needs of the county’s residents, first by former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “i-Taiwan” 12 Infrastructure Projects and now by President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) proposal.
[FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: March 28, 2017
By: Sun Hsin Hsuan

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Ministry of Education pulled a U-turn Monday, retracting a previously announced policy that would have included all nontenured professors under the umbrella of the Labor Standards Act.

Education Minister Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said at the Legislature’s Education and Culture Committee that the inclusion should be “reconsidered.”

Amending the regulations governing the employment of nontenured professors would perhaps be a more pragmatic approach that would create fewer problems, Pan said.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/03/27
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Six cows were knocked down like “blowing pins” by a speeding train in eastern Taiwan on Monday, and all of them died on the spot, according to the personnel responding to the scene.

“I don’t know how they got up there,” said a Bunun tribal farmer surnamed Chiu, who is the owner of the cows. He said that he had no idea why they ended up dead on the tracks because he tethered the six cows to graze about two kilometers from the accident scene in the morning.

Chiu said that he took odd jobs for a living and was raising the cows to make extra money. He said that he incurred a loss of more than NT$300,000 (US$10,000) from the death of the six cows alone. However, he also faced the possibility of Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) seeking damages from him.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/03/27
By: Wang Chao-yu and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, March 27 (CNA) An accident at a road construction site in Keelung, northern Taiwan killed one Indonesian worker and injured another two Monday, according to local firefighters and police.

The three Indonesians were removing a steel mold from a concrete pier on a scaffold when the mold dropped suddenly, colliding with the scaffold and bringing it down, along with the three men, who fell from a height of 20 meters to the ground.

One of them — a 32-year-old — died on the spot with a broken skull, the police said, while the other two were rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-03-26

Taiwan’s government has congratulated Hong Kong’s newly chosen chief executive,

Carrie Lam. The Special Administrative Region’s 1,194-member election committee chose the Beijing-favored candidate with 777 votes on Sunday. She will take office on July 1, succeeding Leung Chun-ying, and becoming the first woman to hold the position.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the top body charting relations with China, released a statement on Sunday congratulating Lam. It called for continued close cooperation with the Special Administrative Region, saying “it is hoped that Taiwan and Hong Kong will maintain an outlook based on mutual benefits and improve their bilateral ties in a pragmatic way.”

Lam is currently the chief secretary for the Administration of Hong Kong. She beat out a former finance chief and a retired judge to win the position.    [FULL  STORY]