It’s “you’re out!”... for this rat that interrupted a pro baseball game at the Taipei Dome on Wednesday, with stadium workers moving like the players themselves to catch the creature.
The game was only delayed for a few minutes, but the rat was in the right place at the right time to reignite talk of Taipei’s supposed rodent problem. The topic spread from the internet into city hall back in May but faded as officials seemed to have the situation under control. Now, city councilors are discussing what may have gone wrong.
CHIEN SHU-PEI, TAIPEI CITY COUNCILOR (DPP):
"Rats are running around everywhere. One even ran into a pro baseball game yesterday. Are Taipei City Government’s rodent control specialists unable to do their job properly?"
YU SHU-HUI, TAIPEI CITY COUNCILOR (KMT):
"What worries me is not one single rat. But with rats, wherever you see one there will be a whole nest."
Some candidates running in the November 28 election have made rats a campaign issue, arguing some measures the city took this year haven’t helped.
PUMA SHEN, TAIPEI MAYORAL CANDIDATE (DPP):
"They cut down on [public] trash cans and made it inconvenient for people. But the rats are still there. This shows it didn’t solve the problem at all while creating a new one."
Taipei’s mayor has vowed more action.
CHIANG WAN-AN, TAIPEI MAYOR:
"Different departments, including the sports environment and health departments are undertaking a joint inspection. I’ve asked the sports department to get to the bottom of the situation and if any wrongdoing is found to deal with it as the law dictates."
With November's vote on the horizon, the reappearance of Taipei’s rodents could be a curveball candidates and voters weren’t expecting.
Scott Huang and John Van Trieste for TaiwanPlus.
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