Antinuclear activists expressed their strong opposition yesterday to what they called the Executive Yuan's "surrender" to the Legislative Yuan, in agreeing to resume construction of the halted Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Residents of Kungliao (貢寮) township, Taipei County, where the plant is located, yesterday condemned political figures who they said had broken residents' hearts by betraying antinuclear activists.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"We look down upon those DPP members who have betrayed the people, lied to their supporters, and turned their backs on the party's anti-nuclear platform," Kungliao township Chief Chao Kuo-tung (
Angry residents said that Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Kungliao residents in the Yenliao Anti-Nuclear Self-Help Association (
Activists from more than 50 groups protested in front of the Executive Yuan yesterday morning, railing against what they called the "illegal" resumption of construction.
Activists urged the Executive Yuan to heed censures pertaining to the construction issued by the Control Yuan. The Control Yuan issued three censures in April, May and November, 1999 relating to the environmental impact assessment for the plant, and the discovery of an Aboriginal historic site inside the construction site.
"If construction is to be resumed, the least the Executive Yuan can do is to order a new environmental impact assessment," said Shih Shin-min (
Shih said that activists were particularly angry at the decision to resume construction because issues such as environmental damage, insufficient safety measures and radioactive waste disposal remained unaddressed.
TEPU has allied with other groups to establish a Nuclear Free Country Action Alliance (
Activists said that at least five advisors to the president, including former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (
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