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.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
Speeding and badly maintained roads were the main causes of a school bus accident on a rainy day in Taipei last year that severely injured two people and left 22 with minor injuries, the Taiwan Transportation and Safety Board said. On March 11 last year, a Kang Chiao International School bus overturned inside the Wenshan Tunnel (文山隧道) on the northbound lane of the Xinyi Expressway. The tour bus, owned by Long Lai Co, exceeded the speed limit after entering the tunnel, the board’s investigation found. Sensing that the rear of the vehicle was swaying, the driver attempted to use the service and exhaust
Central and southern Taiwan are to see increasingly heavy rainfall from last night through Friday due to the effects of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said Tropical Storm Co-May had weakened into a low-pressure system on Saturday, but that it strengthened again into a tropical depression (TD 11) near the seas around Japan's Ryukyu Islands due to favorable environmental conditions. The tropical depression is expected to persist for two to three days, moving west-northwest by this afternoon and reaching China's Zhejiang through the East China Sea tomorrow,
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