Asia Cement Corp (亞洲水泥) yesterday appealed a ruling by the High Administrative Court in Taipei to revoke an extension of its mining rights in Hualien County’s Sincheng Township (新城).
The Ministry of Economic Affairs in March 2017 approved the company’s application to extend a permit to continue operations at the mine for another 20 years.
However, the court on July 11 ordered the ministry to revoke its approval, citing the company’s failure to obtain local Aborigines’ approval to extend mining operations in their lands.
“Although Asia Cement is not the defendant in the case, our rights have been massively affected, so the company has demanded lawyers to appeal the case on July 29,” the company said in a statement.
“The trial of the first instance was wrong and distorted the law, as the extension of mining rights was a decision made at an inter-ministerial meeting at the Executive Yuan,” it said.
Asia Cement’s corporate union at its Hualien plant also held a news conference, saying that from July 20 to Monday last week, they received signatures from 380 households, or 70 percent of all Aboriginal households in the Bsngan community, supporting the extension of the company’s mining rights.
The union members support the company’s decision to appeal the ruling, it said.
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