In the latest twist to the controversial Suao-Hualien freeway project, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said on Friday that further review of the freeway's environmental impact is needed. But the national expressway authority contended yesterday that the project will proceed.
"We will invite the EPA committee members to come to the construction site while pushing ahead with the Hualien freeway project," said Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau Director General Bane Chiou (邱琳濱). "I think it is a wish of both central and local governments to have the freeway construction started as soon as possible."
A majority of the EPA committee members argued that the environment in Hualien had changed due to the 921Earthquake, floods and typhoons in the past four years, and they advocated stricter criteria for evaluating the feasibility of the project. But Bureau officials countered that they have already conducted an updated geological survey and hydrological assessment.
"The environmental impact assessment report of the Hualien freeway is the most comprehensive in recent years and offers the latest information; the EPA might want to look further into that," Chiou said, noting that there were only four committee members present at the EPA meeting on Friday. The bureau will convene a meeting on Monday to discuss whether and when to file a report again.
"It is a question of administrative procedure, not a question of a change in policy," said the bureau's deputy chief engineer, Tseng Dar-jen (
Although the NT$96.2 billion project passed its first environmental impact assessment four years ago, opposition from grassroots environmental groups and the Council for Economic Planning and Development under the Executive Yuan has put the infrastructure project on hold. The bureau submitted two more reports on how to prevent environmental harm in December last year and April. Yet neither of the reports met the EPA's standards.
In December of last year, Premier Yu Shyi-kun announced that the project would be suspended for a three-month review after Hualien County Commissioner Hsieh Shen-shan (
Yet an official poll later showed that about 78 percent of Hualien residents favored the freeway project, with the hope that it will boost the sluggish local economy. Caught in a tug-of-war between environmental and economic interests, the Hualien freeway has continued to draw controversy.
In August, the Council of Economic Planning and Development reportedly was prepared to replace the freeway project with a less extensive and more environmentally-friendly project, the Hualien-Taitung Express Train.
Early this month, however, Yu indicated the government's firm will to build the freeway, while stumping for Democratic Progressive Party legislative hopeful Lu Po-chi (
"We have collected lands and contracted with construction companies for the Hualien freeway. This is evidence of our sincere intent to build the freeway," Yu was quoted as saying in his address to Hualien voters.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS