The Executive Yuan is to build a NT$12.8 billion (US$447.52 million) national-level children’s recreational facility in New Taipei City to foster interest in science and technology, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday.
Su made the remarks in a speech after inspecting the site for the planned facility with New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), ahead of Children’s Day on Sunday next week.
The National Children’s Future Plaza project is to be built on a 3.3-hectare plot of land worth NT$30 billion in Banciao District (板橋), Su said.
Photo: CNA
The project, which would be fully funded by the government, came about after a series of talks between himself and Hou, who as mayors of the special municipality had both thought of using the land for children, he said.
The plaza would emphasize science, technology and cultural education through play, he said.
It has the potential to become a landmark and an international tourism destination, as domestic and international visitors would use the adjacent Taiwan High-Speed Rail and Taoyuan Airport MRT, he said.
Hong Shih-fang (洪世芳), who heads the Ministry of Culture’s Cultural Resources Department, said that the plaza would have cultural activities, digital art and technology exhibitions, and a children’s theater.
The planners would study the Boston Children’s Museum, the Kids Plaza Osaka in Japan and the Digital Art Museum in Berlin as models for the plaza, Hong said.
Over the past two decades, the city has tried and failed to develop the land due to local opposition to build-operate-transfer schemes that relied heavily on private-sector contractors, he said.
EVERGREEN CHARTER: Evergreen Marine Corp said it rents the vessel and decides which seaports it goes to, but if the ship cannot operate normally, it would not pay Progress made moving a container ship blocking the Suez Canal should allow some traffic to resume today, while Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運) said that it leased the vessel, but would refuse to pay if it remained stuck. The MV Ever Given — a so-called “megaship” at 220,000 tonnes and 400m long — which ran aground in the southern part of the canal in Egypt, had been partially moved and is alongside the bank, said Ahmed Mekawy, deputy manager of the Suez Canal for GAC Group, a provider of port-agent services. The vessel was soon expected to be refloated, Mekawy said, adding that
LOCAL DOSE? Asked if President Tsai Ing-wen would also get an AstraZeneca shot, her spokesman said it would be more meaningful if she receives a locally manufactured drug The nation yesterday began administering the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, with Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) receiving the jabs first. Last week, 44,500 doses of the vaccine were distributed to 57 designated hospitals nationwide to start inoculating healthcare workers yesterday. To reassure the public that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe, Su and Chen arrived at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) at 7:40am to receive the first two shots of the vaccine in Taiwan. As the vaccination procedure was not open to reporters, the Executive Yuan and the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) later released video
The nation yesterday grounded its entire fleet of F-5 jets after two disappeared over the ocean in the afternoon. Citing information from the Ministry of National Defense, the National Rescue Command Center said that four F-5Es took off from Taitung Airbase at 2:30pm for a routine training mission before two of the jets disappeared from radar screens 1.4 nautical miles (2.6km) east of Pingtung’s Mudan Township (牡丹), apparently after a mid-air collision, at about 3:06pm. As of press time last night, rescuers were searching for captain Pan Ying-chun (潘穎諄), one of the pilots. Lieutenant Lo Shang-hua (羅尚樺), the pilot of the other plane,
HUMANITARIAN ISSUE: Paraguay said the pandemic should not be used for political gain, after it was asked to break ties with Taiwan if it wants to buy Chinese vaccines Some COVID-19 vaccine suppliers have asked Paraguay to break ties with Taiwan as a precondition for purchasing Chinese vaccines, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, condemning the use of vaccines as a political tool. The South American country, with a population of about 7 million, had reported 192,599 cases of COVID-19 as of Monday, including 3,695 deaths, WHO data showed. Purchasing vaccines is not only a health matter, but also a humanitarian issue, especially when Paraguay’s capital, Asuncion, is facing a life-or-death crisis, Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Director-General Alexander Yui (俞大㵢) told a news briefing in Taipei. The government