Anti-incinerator residents protest

Residents of Linnei Township in Yunlin County yesterday demanded the impeachment of township chief Chen Ho-shan (陳河山), accusing him of backtracking on a promise to oppose the building of a costly waste incinerator near a county water-purification plant.

Waving white banners, hundreds of residents -- accompanied by DPP county councilors -- handed in a 300-signature petition to Yunlin County Election Commission.

Yunlin DPP Legislator Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) said the residents' proposal was aimed at highlighting unfair waste management policies.

The incinerator, which is designed to burn 600 tonnes of household waste per day, has raised hackles due to its adjacency to a water-purification plant located less than 2km away.

Last year, a series of violent demonstrations carried out by local anti-incinerator residents temporarily halted the start of its construction.

Last November, the Legislative Yuan, which was under pressure from more than 120 anti-incinerator groups, moved to freeze the more than NT$3 billion budget allocated for the project.

It said construction should not start until the completion of an independent investigation into the relationship between the water quality at the plant and the construction of the incinerator.

According to the Environmental Protection Bureau of Yunlin County Government yesterday, however, construction on the incinerator started months ago.

"Obviously they began the project without listening to what the Legislative Yuan said," Su said.

Su also accused Chen of bribing residents with the promise of compensation.

Anti-incinerator activists said that the waste incinerator, costing NT$3.4 billion, would be the most expensive in the country.

Yunling County Councilor Yin Lin-in (尹伶瑛) said Chen promised to stand against the incinerator before he was elected. However, Yin said, Chen now supports the project and has invited residents to visit operational incinerators in other counties.

Chen, however, blasted the impeachment proposal as ridiculous.

"The central government promotes the nationwide establishment of incinerators. The local government is in charge of local projects. Do I have anything to do with that?" Chen said.

Chen stressed that a report produced by National Cheng Kung University suggested that the incinerator would not affect the water quality at the purification plant.

Taking a waste incinerator with 900-tonne daily capacity in Kaohsiung City as an example, Chen said that the plant did not affect a nearby water-purification plant at Chengching Lake.

Director of the bureau, Yen Chia-hsien (顏嘉賢), said the project would be carried out in accordance with the contact signed by the developer and the local government because the impeachment proposal remains irrelevant.

According to the Public Officials Election and Recall Law, Su said, an impeachment vote would given with backing from 15 percent of the electorate.