Print

Mail

wiki links

Suhua Freeway going nowhere

Members of environmental youth groups opposed to the construction of the Suhua Freeway, in the foreground, and residents of Hualien in favor of the freeway, in the background, protest outside the Environmental Protection Administration building in Taipei yesterday. PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES

Plans to construct the controversial Suhua Freeway, a project that has been the focus of debate for a decade, were rejected yesterday by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), the recommendation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Committee.

The EPA’s environmental impact assessment committee ruled that the proposal should be returned to its developer, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC).

The verdict means that if the MOTC wants to pursue the plans, it must begin the environmental impact assessment from scratch and first secure the approval of the incoming Cabinet. Over the past decade, the proposal has been the subject of 15 meetings on environmental impact assessments and environmental impact difference evaluations.

“Though it is indisputable that the people of Hualien need a safe road to travel on, it is debatable whether the Suhua Freeway would be the best option available,” a committee member said.

The MOTC should first make improvements to coastal Highway 9 and increase the frequency of trains to Hualien, the committee said.

The Suhua proposal “still contains several unresolved issues identified by the Suhua environmental case committee,” EPA Minster Winston Dang (陳重信) told reporters after the meeting.

“In addition, it is questionable that the project conforms with the Cabinet’s Outline for Sustainable Development of the East. Before the ministry secures the Cabinet’s approval, the EPA should not be pressured to review the case,” he said.

Dang was referring to a surprise Cabinet decision earlier this month to fine tune its development policy, which supersedes both the EPA and the MOTC.

“At the past six meetings on the environmental impact difference evaluation, the same issues surrounding the Suhua proposal — whether the construction is necessary, whether enough funding is available for the project and whether the freeway conflicts with national development plans — were discussed over and over again without resolution,” Dang said.

“But these were discussions on government policies, while the EPA’s job is to review scientific and technical aspects of the environmental feasibility of construction proposals,” he said.

Before the committee members deliberated on the proposal, five people in favor of the project and five against made their cases to the committee.

Objectors questioned the necessity of a road that would damage the environment and cost a substantial amount, with some saying Hualien’s residents should stop blaming social problems such as high divorce and suicide rates on the absence of a freeway.

Representatives for Hualien County said that the county’s economy depended upon tourism and agriculture, both of which could not be developed without better means of transportation.

“I feel sick whenever I hear the word Suhua,” Hualien Councilor Chen Tai-chou (陳泰洲) said. “The freeway is the earnest wish of more than 80 percent of Hualien residents. If anyone running for public office in Hualien can publicly oppose the freeway and get elected, I will be willing to perform hara kiri.”

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅焜萁) of Hualien, a long-time proponent of the freeway, pleaded with the committee to approve the project.

Fu’s speech was interrupted by a commotion outside the meeting room when Environmental Quality Protection Foundation chairman Liou Ming-lone (劉銘龍) shouted: “Did Fu register to speak? Aren’t only five representatives on each side registered to give their opinions?”

Liou said that if Fu was allowed to speak, he should be allowed to voice his opinion as well.

Before the meeting yesterday, hundreds of proponents and opponents gathered in front of the administration building. The two groups of demonstrators were separated by police carrying shields.

While many protesters were college students and sang songs and took turns speaking on a podium, freeway proponents, largely from Hualien County, held up banners and chanted: “Help us and be the good guys.”

In response to the demonstrations, Dang said the EPA had no say in the decisions on whether or not to initiate major constructions.

The EPA has no power to make decisions, he said.

In response to the decision, Liou said the EPA had made an “important and wise decision.”

“The Suhua case was proposed more than 10 years ago. [The rejection] leaves room for the new government to carefully evaluate whether there is still a need for the freeway. It also allows the new government a chance to ditch the ‘economy-first’ mentality,” he said.
This story has been viewed 1121 times.