Promoting environmental education, stressing environmental harmony and adopting incentive strategies will be major ways for the Environmental Protection Admini-stration (EPA) to tackle problems, EPA head Chang Juu-en (張祖恩) said yesterday.
Chang received an official seal yesterday from Minister without Portfolio Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮), who said Chang had been praised by legislators and the public for his experience in the environmental sector.
Chang, who grew up on a farm, said environmental considerations are an important part of rural life.
He said education is the cornerstone of environmental protection. In order to promote environmental protection in daily life, Chang said, the EPA will focus on the establishment of an environmental education law (環境教育法) to embed environmental values, concepts, knowledge and skills into school education and social education.
With a doctorate in civil engineering from Tohoku University in Japan, Chang, 52, has been in the field of environmental engineering for nearly three decades.
In April 2001, when Chang was associate dean of the College of Engineering at National Cheng Kung University, he was invited by former EPA chief Hau Lung-bin (
Hau resigned early last month after Premier Yu Shyi-kun rejected his proposal to disallow referendums on projects if an environmental impact assessment had already been conducted.
The subsequent confrontation between public opinion and environmental professionalism was attributed to Hau's resignation.
Meanwhile, facing nationwide demonstrations against waste incineration, Chang said the policy would be slightly adjusted and the principle of having one incinerator in each jurisdiction could be overturned.
"Regional cooperation on waste management will be promoted in order to cancel the establishment of one or two incinerators," Chang said.
In addition, he said incentives would be adopted for the industrial sector to prevent environmental pollution and promote pollution-control technologies.
"Taiwan might be not only an R&D base for environmental technologies but also an exporter, further contributing to global sustainable development," Chang said.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
RSS