Tainan Councilor Wang Chun-tan (王峻潭) on Friday apologized over excessive pruning of trees at a tourist spot in Greater Tainan, saying that he would take measures to protect the trees and ensure their survival.
Mango trees along both sides of the Wang Ming “green tunnel” in Yujing District (玉井) had their canopies completely removed on Sept. 25 after Yujing District Office head Lee Chia-lung (李佳隆) ordered that they be pruned for safety reasons.
The Tainan Government issued Lee a demerit on Friday for his handling of the operation, which sparked widespread protest among residents and environmentalists.
Photo: CNA
Wang said at a city council meeting that he visited the Wang Ming tunnel and found the district office had gone too far in trimming the trees.
“I acted as a mediator, hoping to maintain peace in the community,” Wang said.
“I hereby apologize for the discord that I might have caused,” he added.
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei Times
Shortly after the “beheading” of the trees, the city councilor reportedly said that many Yujing residents had approved of the operation because wind often caused branches to fall from the trees, creating a hazard and causing accidents for motorcyclists using the road.
People who panned the move were all “manipulated by certain stakeholders,” Wang added.
“Perhaps due to poor communication and the district office’s lack of knowledge when it comes to tree pruning, the trees were over-trimmed,” Wang said.
“As a result, the barren treetops have become an offense to people’s senses,” he said.
He added that he believed the district office’s move was carried out to prevent road accidents.
Wang said the office should heed the regulations and improve its horticultural know-how to restore the old trees to their former glory as soon as possible.
A female Indonesian worker in Yujin was the first one to find out about the incident, a report said.
A Greater Tainan citizen surnamed Liu (劉), who employs the woman, said she told him about the incident while he was away.
“I asked her to take pictures of the area and on the same afternoon she rode her bike there and took photos with her tablet,” Liu said.
The pictures went viral on the Internet and were passed on to Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德), who said he was transfixed by the scene.
Tainan City Councilor Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) lambasted the district office’s method for pruning the trees, calling the work “idiotic” and “unforgivable.”
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft