TAIPEI - More than 10,000 villagers had to be evacuated after an explosion rocked a chemical plant in an industrial zone in Mailiao township, Yunlin county in central-southern Taiwan Sunday afternoon.The explosion at an aromatics plant of Formosa Chemical and Fiber Corp at about 2 pm shattered glass in nearby buildings and shook houses kilometers away, local police and fire fighters said.Though there have been no immediate reports of human death or injuries, authorities have ordered the evacuation of more than 10,000 villagers of five nearby villages due to gas leak after the explosion.Footage posted online by witnesses showed dense plume of black smoke billowing into the sky, and loud explosions were heard far from the chemical plant.The explosion was very powerful as it was heard across the county, Cai Chang-kun, head of Mailiao township, told the press after the blast, adding he had demanded the chemical plant suspend operation and investigate the cause of the accident.Fire fighters and police arrived at the scene about 20 minutes after receiving an explosion report. Preliminary investigations show a gas leak due to a fracture in a liquefied natural gas pipeline could have led to the explosion, according to local TV reports.Zhang Li-shan, magistrate of Yunlin county, said she has instructed a special team to look into the accident and strengthen the monitoring of air pollution to decide whether the black fume would cause damage to humans.The chemical plant was handed a preliminary fine of NT$5 million (about $162,000) over the violation of air pollution regulations by the county government. personalized wristbandssilicone braceletsbig rubber braceletspersonality braceletspersonalized rubber bracelets
[Photo/VCG] MACAO -- The graft cases of Macao public servants have decreased in 2018, but the cases such as fraud, document forgery and power abuse have increased, said a report issued by the anti-corruption watchdog of China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Wednesday. The 2018 Annual Report of the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) of Macao said the CCAC considers it necessary to strengthen the sense of law-abidingness of public servants and the awareness of integrity and dedication of the leadership and management of public services. They shall not take advantage of their powers and positions directly or indirectly for private gain. In 2018, the CCAC received a total of 733 complaints and reports, of which 141 involved corruption and 592 were about administrative impropriety. Compared with 2017, there was a decrease in complaints and reports mainly because the Legislative Assembly election was held in 2017, when more complaints, requests for help and inquiries about the election were received. The report added that in 2018 the CCAC investigated a number of cases of fraud over government subsidies involving the Fund of Environmental Protection and Energy Saving and the Fund of Continuing Education, demonstrating the need for more monitoring of the grant of subsidies by the public services. In 2018, the CCAC completed two inquiries and published the Investigation report on the construction project at Alto de Coloane in February and the Investigation report on the vetting and approval of major investment immigration and technical immigration by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) in July, respectively. The report said the inquiry into the case of IPIM even revealed a crime allegedly committed by public servants in high positions, reflecting that the problems concerning loose enforcement of law and lack of supervision by some of the public services are so significant that they deserve great attention of the SAR government.
