The Cabinet's decision to continue the construction of a wharf being built for the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant led to a protest yesterday by antinuclear activists and people living near the plant site.
The protesters also presented a petition to the Control Yuan.
Control Yuan members Leu Hsi-muh (
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
The petition urges the Control Yuan to investigate Cabinet agencies and other government departments -- including the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), Atomic Energy Council and Taiwan Power Company (Tai-power) -- for ignoring their duties.
Township residents told Control Yuan members yesterday that the construction of the wharf had caused not only the loss of 3km of Fulung Beach but it was having a a negative impact on the ecological systems of nearby coastal areas.
Residents complained that the EPA was avoiding tackling environmental problems caused by what they described as an unsound Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the plant done by the Atomic Energy Council in 1991, long before the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (環境影響評估法) came into effect in 1994.
"What a benefit to being governmental officials. None of them has to take responsibility for mistakes they have made," said Wu Wen-tung (
Before sending the petition letter to the Control Yuan, protestors demonstrated in front of the Executive Yuan, expressing their disappointment at the recent investigation conducted by a task force established in January under the command of Premier Yu Shyi-kun.
Protestors said that the investigation was a perfunctory probe by the Cabinet.
The task force, composed of experts and officials from Cabinet-level agencies, concluded early this month that the beach erosion could be attributed to stress on the environment caused by construction of the wharf, which was built to facilitate construction of the plant.
However, ministers without portfolio Lin Sheng-feng (
Instead they asked Taipower to be responsible for the damage.
DPP legislators Eugene Jao (
"We will soon demand the investigation report conducted by the Executive Yuan on the issue and carry out field trips to the beach," Control Yuan member Leu said.
A dozen Kunaliao residents were allowed to enter the Executive Yuan yesterday to discuss the issue with officials.
However, the delegation was disappointed by the absence of high-ranking officials.
"We can't accept the insincere way the Cabinet treats us," Wu said.
Premier Yu met with same protestors in mid-January, stressing the Cabinet's investigation would come up with a way to solve problems related to coastal erosion.
Tu Yueh-yuan (
"We now can only do things by following the Cabinet's opinions," Tu said.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
RSS