The National Science Council’s Central Taiwan Science Park Administration expects to resolve longstanding environmental disputes over the newly developed industrial area by this summer after updating a health risk assessment as requested, a government official said yesterday.
This move was expected to clear worries over stalled construction at a second advanced 8.5-generation production line by AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the nation’s biggest liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panel maker, in Erlin (二林), Changhua County.
Last month, the Supreme Administrative Court repealed the approval of an environmental review at the Erlin industrial area submitted by the Environmental Protection Administration in July 2006.
“The ruling does not mean the Supreme Court opposes approval of the environmental review, but it indicates the shortcomings in information collection,” Yang Wen-ke (楊文科), director-general of the Central Taiwan Science Park Administration, said during a press conference.
To complete the review procedures, the administration is required to submit a more up-to-date health risk assessment on potentially cancer-causing air contamination, Yang said.
“We are readying to update the health risk assessment and hope to wrap it up by the first half of the year to defuse any uncertainties over plant construction projects,” he said.
AU Optronics is building its second 8.5G plant in Erlin to make TV panels, which is set to increase production by the end of this year after moving equipment in June, Yang said.
AU Optronics said last month it would spend NT$100 billion (US$3.12 billion) this year to expand capacity by as much as 18 percent from last year via output increases at advanced 7.5-generation and 8.5G plants.
Separately, the nation’s three major science park administrations yesterday said revenues from local manufacturers based at science parks would grow to NT$1.9 trillion this year, up about 20 percent from last year’s NT$1.59 trillion.
Last year’s figure was down 14 percent from NT$1.84 trillion in 2008, as manufacturers were hit by the global economic crisis and the yearlong recession.
Taiwanese companies saw a strong rebound in customer demand in the second half of last year and were increasing equipment investment in response to a V-shape recovery this year, Yang said.
The recovery is expected to create as many as 18,000 jobs in the science parks, mostly from contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) and LCD panel makers like Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) in the Southern Taiwan Science Park, the administrations said.
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