The Ministry of Economic Affairs agreed yesterday to suspend a project to reduce a water sources protection area in the Tsengwen River (曾文溪) basin in southern Taiwan, after discussions with the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).
Last December, the ministry proposed to reduce a drinking water sources protection area along the Tsengwen to 91.7 percent of its original size. The project was sent to the Executive Yuan for approval.
The ministry's proposal angered more than 100 owners of pig farms within the 48km2 zone to be excluded from the protection area.
Pig farmers were afraid that compensation promised previously by the EPA for the closure of their farms would be unavailable, due to the ministry's decision to exclude their farms from the drinking water sources protection area.
Meanwhile, the EPA opposed the ministry's plan, fearing that future development in the excluded area might place further strains on the environment along a part of the river which has been protected since the early 1980s.
"The EPA will not agree to any policy which might affect the environment without doing an environmental impact assessment," EPA head Hau Lung-bin (
Hau also said that one of the EPA's projects to compensate pig farmers whose farms are closed would continue.
"We have reached an agreement that an environmental impact assessment will be carried out if the EPA expresses concern that any of our projects might affect the environment," Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Yi-fu (林義夫) said at the press conference yesterday.
Hau yesterday stressed that the water sources needed to be protected because environmental damage is very difficult to repair.
Pig farms located along five major rivers in Taiwan have discharged excrement into those rivers for decades, causing serious water pollution. In addition to the Tsengwen, the other major rivers are the Kaoping (
According to the EPA's Bureau of Water Quality Protection (水保處), the agency had budgeted NT$6.45 billion to treat the five major rivers, and part was to compensate farmers.
"If the ministry decides to reduce the water sources protection area ... economic development activities and a worsening environment are expected," said Ma Nien-ho (
It was reported that the economics ministry had made the decision to suspend the project under pressure from local political figures, who are seeking support for their bids for office in the year-end elections.
Lin said that he was not aware of such reports.
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