The China Post
Date: June 27, 2016
By: The China Post news staff
TAIPEI, Taiwan — The New Taipei City Government on Sunday temporarily rejected a move by a major funder of the company responsible for the Formosa Fun Coast water park (八仙樂園) dust explosion to withdraw a NT$50 million donation to cover financial costs for the victims of the blast.
Wan Hai Lines Ltd. (萬海航運), a major financial contributor to the Formosa Fun Coast water park initially pledged three separate donations of NT$50 million each to the victims of a dust blast which killed 15 and injured 484 on June 27 2015, many of them young people.
Wan Hai’s legal representatives stated that the company was acting on behalf of shareholders in order to see that NT$50 million (approximately US$1.54 million) returns to company control.
New Taipei legal officials surmise that Wan Hai’s initial donations to a fund for victims may have been motivated to offset criticism from victims and their families. Initially, since some victim’s families had rejected Wan Hai’s contributions to the compensation fund, the company therefore decided to contribute to a fund established by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. [FULL STORY]
