In the past, Yuejin Port in Greater Tainan’s Yanshuei District was notorious for being squalid, polluted and fetid. After a makeover to beautify the area, the port is now free of its ill repute. In November last year the Greater Tainan Environmental Protection Bureau tested the water and found that it was of higher quality than that of Tainan Canal.
Many Yanshuei residents and tourists are still in disbelief. Long-time Yanshuei resident Wu Chun-jung says that cleanup projects at Yuejin Port’s waterside parks in the past merely consisted of superficial improvements to the environment. The water was black and smelled terrible, he says, adding that no one ever wanted to walk around the parks. With improvements made to water quality, Wu now walks along the park’s paths every morning and evening, enjoying the scenery along the river.
Yanshuei was famous in the past for its fireworks displays, says local resident Chen Shun-chih, adding that he hopes in the future the port will be linked with other local historic sites, such as the Bajiao Building, Chiaonan Historic St, Wangyeh Temple St, Liencheng Alley and Yiyin Alley, helping it garner tourists and business opportunities as an integrated tourist area similar to Lugang Township and Anping District.
Photo: Yang Chin-cheng, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者楊金城
Greater Tainan Bureau of Urban Development Director-General Wu Hsin-hsiu, also a Yanshuei native, says that the Yuejin redevelopment project began six years ago. To date, the project has obtained NT$230 million (US$7.7 million) in federal funding, and in a relatively short period of time the port has been successfully dredged, the water quality is pristine and the old stench is gone, he says, making him feel as though it was all a big dream.
Improvements made to the port’s waterside parks include parks one, two, 17 and 18. Wu says that the main reason the water quality has improved is because wastewater from houses along the city’s Kangle Rd has been blocked and no longer runs into the port. The foul smell that came from silt went away after the cistern was drained. Approximately 1.5m of silt was dredged, a protective layer of soil was added to the bank and water purification equipment was set up at park two, all of which helped with overall improvements.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
過去髒污、惡臭聞名的台南鹽水區月津港,經月津風華再造的整治,水質現已擺脫惡名,台南環保局去年十一月抽驗月津港水質,甚至比台南運河好。
Photo: Yang Chin-cheng, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者楊金城
不少鹽水人和遊客都說,「真是難以置信」。老居民吳春榮說,月津港親水公園過去整治只做環境改造的「表面工夫」,水質又黑又臭,誰會想到公園散步?現在改善水質,每天早晚會到步道散步,看看河岸景觀。
居民陳順治說,過去鹽水以蜂炮活動聞名,希望未來月津港能串連八角樓、橋南老街、王爺廟巷、連成巷、一銀巷等歷史街區成為觀光帶,像鹿港、安平一樣帶來觀光人潮和商機。
鹽水人出身的南市都發局長吳欣修說,月津風華再造在六年前開始執行,至今爭取中央補助二億三千多萬元(七百七十萬美元),短短時間將月津港整治,水質變乾淨,沒有臭味,自己都覺得像在作夢一樣。
改善的月津港親水公園水域,包括公一、公二、公十七和公十八。吳欣修分析,月津港水域水質改善,主要原因在把市區康樂路的家庭廢水截流,不再流入月津港,此外,過去散發惡臭的淤土,在抽乾月津港蓄水後,挖除深約一點五公尺的淤土,再把護岸以土岸營造,加上公二水域的淨化水質設施發生功效所致。
(自由時報記者楊金城)
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