Activists express hope Chen will save the birds

Environmental activists say last Saturday's presidential election victory by the DPP's Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) may bring to a halt several controversial construction and development projects, as the new administration is expected to tackle the problem of balancing environmental protection with economic development.

At the same time, though, activists have also expressed concern that the traditionally strong ties between politicians and industry leaders -- which have been the key factor in obtaining government approval for projects by developers -- will not be entirely dislocated by the KMT's loss of the presidency.

"The old government controlled by the KMT made decisions on whether or not to approve development projects based on the state of relations between developers and the party," said Shieh Jyh-cherng (謝志誠), secretary-general of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU, 台灣環保聯盟).

"If the new government still takes such relations into account when considering controversial development projects, I don't see any likelihood of a better environment for Taiwan's people," Shieh said.

Shieh added that he believed new connections between the new government and big business would begin to take shape very soon.

Burdens for Chen?

Ten days before last Saturday's vote, environmentalists allied to TEPU issued a challenge to all the the presidential candidates to clearly state their views on several controversial development projects.

The projects include the ongoing construction of the fourth nuclear power plant (核四廠) in Kungliao Township in Taipei County, the planned Pinnan Industrial Complex project (濱南工業區) at Chiku (七股) Township in Tainan County, and the proposed Meinung Dam project (美濃水庫) in Kaohsiung County.

At the time, Chen's stance against the fourth nuclear power plant and the Meinung Dam project was well received by green groups.

However, his reluctance to make clear his attitude toward the Pinnan issue has been interpreted as a move to avoid embarrassing Tainan County Commissioner Chen Tang-shan (陳唐山), a DPP colleague, who is in favor of the project.

Despite his uncertain support for the project, Chen captured votes from half the local residents in the area's townships, which are regarded as bastions of KMT support.

Pushing the New Government

Environmentalists say the ongoing work on controversial construction projects such as the fourth nuclear power plant (核四廠), should be re-opened for discussion, and that a limited survey should be held to determine whether they should go ahead.

"These projects could become a burden for Chen if he does not do something to fulfill his campaign promises," said TEPU member Hsu Kuang-jung (徐光蓉).

Over 51 percent of voters in Kungliao reportedly chose Chen during the election.

"We will persuade officials in the new government, some of whom may well have been involved in environmental protection issues in the past decades, to review the existing energy policy to see if it's possible to adopt alternatives to nuclear energy, such as natural gas," Hsu said.

She said that the cost for the nuclear plant was more than NT$170 billion and it was expected that it could end up costing 2.8 times the original estimates, based on past experience.

She said that the cost of building a natural gas plant was only one-fifth that of a nuclear power plant.