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Chichi residents protest planned incinerator project

Hundreds of residents of Chichi Township -- a famous tourist spot in central Taiwan -- yesterday protested against a proposed waste incinerator project in the area. Their banner reads, ``[We] beg the government to give Chichi a break.'' PHOTO: LU CHANG-PING , TAIPEI TIMES

A project to build a NT$4 billion waste incinerator in Chichi, Nantou County, was yesterday protested by residents who claimed the construction was unnecessary and that it would damage local tourism.

Close to 1,000 residents of Chichi (集集), a small town in mountainous Nantou county, demonstrated in front a stadium where an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) meeting about the project was being held.

According to activists, Nantou County Government plans to build the incinerator, which can burn 500 tonnes of household waste per day, despite the fact that the amount of waste generated daily in the county amounts to only about 300 tonnes.

Waving banners, shouting slogans and performing skits, activists said that building the incinerator in a valley would not only cause major air pollution but also devastate local tourism.

"The emission of dioxin from the incinerator will definitely affect our agricultural products such as guavas, bananas and grapes," Tsai Yuan-chou(蔡元周), spokesman of the Chichi Environmental Protection Association (集集鎮環境保護會), said.

Tsai, a guava farmer, said Chichi's mountain scenery has been a major regional tourist attraction for decades. Since the devastating 921 earthquake, locals have been working hard to protect the environment in order to further promote local tourism, he said.

"So, what's the point of building an ugly polluter here," Tsai said.

He urged the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) not to irresponsibly subsidize the local government's construction of the project because it would be a waste of taxpayers' money.

Tsai said that the waste generated in Nantou could be treated at other incinerators in adjacent counties, such as Yunlin and Changhua.

According to Fang Hsin-hsiung (方信雄), director of the county's Environmental Protection Bureau, no conclusion was reached at yesterday's meeting because serious questions raised by the EIA committee members remained unanswered.

The next EIA meeting will be held soon, he said.
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