The government may have to spend more than it planned should the construction of the Suhua Freeway begin now, the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau said yesterday.
The bureau's deputy director- general Tseng Dar-jen (曾大仁) said yesterday that the price of construction materials had risen 30 percent in the past three years. The construction costs for the entire project may now exceed NT$100 billion (US$3.125 billion).
In 2003, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications only budgeted NT$93.7 billion for the project.
Tseng also participated in an environmental impact review of the planned Suhua Freeway at the Environmental Protection Administration on Thursday. He said yesterday that the bureau would quickly provide the supplementary information the committee members had requested.
He stated that the bureau had already adjusted the planned route of the Suhua Freeway at the request of local residents. Residents in Wuta (武塔), Ilan County, for example, had asked for the freeway to be built a little further away from the community. Also, to protect the natural beauty of Chingshui (清水) coastal cliff, Hualien County, the route will now be built approximately 700m to 1,100m away from the coast line, and will be constructed inside a tunnel.
Some of the committee members opposed the construction of the freeway on the grounds that it will be built among high mountains, generally defined as those whose altitude is 1,500m and above. In response, Tseng said the highest point of the planned route will be 104m above sea level. The highest point of the Chiang Wei-shui Freeway, in comparison, is 200m.
Regarding the request for a new environmental impact review, Tseng said the EPA had already approved the launch of the project in 2002. The administration has to consider whether overthrowing a previous decision by undergoing a second review will generate any legal issues, he said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS