“This is not a conflict between the economy and the environment, but a conflict between a lack of foresight and long-term development,” said Robin Winkler, president of the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and a naturalized Taiwanese citizen from the US.
The freeway project is meant only to temporarily boost the gross domestic product and benefit a few people, he said.
If the government really cared for the grassroots, it would address real matters such as Hualien’s economic disadvantage, job shortages, the education gap and real estate price hikes, none of which can be resolved by a freeway, said Taroko Youth Association representative Ciwang Teyra, a member of the Truku tribe and a native of Hualien.
At a separate setting, Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Steven Shen (沈世宏) was approached by media yesterday for comment on the matter.
“The EPA’s position is simple: We are in charge of the EIA process and we are here to protect the environment,” he said.
“Any construction plan, whether it is the alternative to the Suhua Highway or the freeway itself, would have to pass an EIA before construction can commence,” he said.
Asked for comment, KMT Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁), a supporter of the Suhua Freeway, said the government should insist on the new proposal as long as it is a good policy.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) told reporters the government should come clean on whether the road it has proposed is the Suhua Freeway and whether its construction would require an environmental impact evaluation.
DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) told a press conference at the legislature that Liu had met Master Cheng Yen (證嚴), founder of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, to talk about energy and carbon emissions on Sunday morning, only to announce in the afternoon that the government would resume construction of part of the Suhua Freeway.
Chiu said Liu had deceived Cheng Yen and should apologize to her.
DPP Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) said the government’s plan to build an “alternative road to the dangerous section” of the existing Suhua Highway was designed to complete the Suhua Freeway by skirting regulations.
DPP caucus whip Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) said the government had violated the law because the project had not passed the necessary environmental evaluation.
She also accused Ma of breaking pledges he made during his presidential campaign.
Additional reporting by CNA
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