Water chief argues against opening highway

Taiwan Water Co. Chairman Hsu Hsiang-kun (徐享崑) said yesterday that from a water conservation perspective, he would opt against the opening of an interchange linking the township of Pinglin (坪林) in Taipei County with the Taipei-Ilan Highway.

Fielding questions at the Legislative Yuan, Hsu said he would suggest that the administration not give the green light to the opening of the Pinglin interchange if the government is committed to protecting a good water catchment area and the nearby natural environment.

Hsu made the remarks in response to a question from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) regarding whether it would be better for the environment that the Pinglin interchange not be opened. The interchange would make it easy for motorists to access Pinglin, a quiet village at the center of the catchment area of the Feitsuei Reservoir -- the major reservoir supplying water to Taipei City and Taipei County.

The issue of whether the Pinglin interchange should be opened has been at the heart of a political tug-of-war which has escalated from local to national level over the past several months, as opening the interchange would obviously boost Pingling's tourist numbers and consequently promote commercial development there, inevitably leading to pollution of the reservoir.

Because of Pinglin's location in a catchment area, its commercial development is severely restricted -- to the great displeasure of many of its residents who hope the interchange linking the village and the Peiyi Freeway will boost the local economy.

Their desire has won the sympathy of Chen Din-nan (陳定南), a former justice minister who quit his post earlier this year to run in the year-end election for Yilan County magistrate, which is where the Highway ends.

Chen wrote to Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (林陵三) and Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Chang Kow-lung (張國龍), asking them to open the interchange to facilitate the development of Yilan and Pinglin.