Only 30% of Taiwan's hotels pass fire safety, construction checks
CNA 2013-08-09 12:53
The Lalu Hotel by central Taiwan's Sun Moon Lake was one of the hotels which did not pass the checks. (Photo/Chuang Fu-an)
Taiwan's Ministry of the Interior said Thursday that only around 30% of hotels in the country passed the fire safety and construction management checks it conducted between April and July this year.
Among 194 hotels it checked, only 32.5% or 63 operators met the country's standard requirements and passed both categories of inspections, the ministry said.
Officials from the ministry were divided into two teams to carry out the separate checks.
Cities and counties which have over 100 registered hotels, belonged to group one, and the rest were listed in the second group, the ministry said.
The inspection found that the cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung, which were in the first group, have the highest pass rates of 58.3%, while all hotels in the second group, including Yunlin county and Taiwan's outlying islands of Penghu and Lienchiang failed the test, deputy minister Hsiao Chia-chi said.
A high number of 57 hotels around the island did not pass fire safety requirements, Hsiao said, adding that some high-end resorts were also failed the test.
The ministry has required operators who failed to meet the safety requirements to improve their facilities by installing fire alarms, aerosol extractors, indoor fire hydrants and fire escape equipment by the end of September, Hsiao said.
