Premier calls for quicker construction in Pingtung

Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday asked the Pingtung County Government and developers to speed up the construction of pleasure boat piers and yachting clubs at the Tapeng Bay National Resort Area (大鵬灣國家風景區).

During an inspection of the area, Su said that car racing, golf and ocean playground facilities now under construction would not be sufficient to attract large numbers of tourists when an international tourist hotel is completed in 2012.

He ordered builders to move up the 2010 target for completing piers for pleasure boats but did not give a new timeframe, apart from expressing hope that tourists would start swarming to the area next year.

Kaohsiung Games

Minister of Transportation and Communications Kuo Yao-chi (郭瑤琪) promised to speed up the building of various facilities so that a lantern festival could be held in 2008 and rowing events for the 2009 Kaohsiung World Games could take place there.

Su also decided on which blueprint to adopt for a major bridge in the bay area, opting for a medium-priced design that would cost NT$920 million (US$28.8 million) rather than a more extravagant NT$1.2 billion plan, or a much less costly but also less attractive plan that would cost only NT$420 million.

Rail infrastructure

After listening to a briefing by Pingtung County Magistrate Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻) on the need to increase the number of Tsoying (左營)-Pingtung rapid transit trains from 55 to 220 after a high-speed train service is launched in late October, Su agreed that rapid transit trains should run on overpass tracks.

Overpass tracks would cost an additional NT$5 billion, but would ease ground traffic congestion, change Pingtung's landscape and increase land values, he said.

The premier vetoed Tsao's suggestion of building a 40km bike route under the No. 3 National Expressway from Chiuju (九如) to Linpien (林邊), saying the county did not have a big enough population to justify such a route. Instead, he decided that a 7km bike route could be built from Changchih (長治) interchange to Linlo (麟洛) park at a cost of NT$210 million.

He also instructed the Council of Agriculture to set aside a budget for eight Hakka communities in the county to build roads linking to major highways.