The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should stop the Hushan Reservoir (湖山水庫) project within 60 days or face legal action, an alliance of environmental advocates demanded yesterday.
Lin San-chia (林三加), chair of Environmental Law Committee of the Taipei Bar Association, and others, including Robin Winkler, director of the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, made their way to the front of the agency's building where they presented Fan Da-vid (范大維) of the EPA with a letter of demands giving the EPA 60 days to "take appropriate action" over the Hushan situation before they take legal action.
Fan declined to join the group in chanting "Love Taiwan, say no to Hushan Dam."
"The Environmental Impact Assessment for the project was officially completed in 2000, making it seven years old," Lin said. "This is in direct contravention of the 16th statute of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (環境影響評估法), which calls for a re-evaluation of all Environmental Impact Assessments older than three years before a project can go forward."
The groups also maintain that the area in question has been listed by the animal welfare organization BirdLife International as one of the most important nesting sites for the endangered fairy pitta.
These facts were also neglected in the 2000 Environmental Impact Assessments, rendering the survey flawed, Lin said.
Chang Kow-lung (張國龍) last Friday threatened to sue Winkler for "slanderous remarks against the EPA" after Winkler, who is also a member of the Environmental Impact Assessments Committee, said the agency was on the side of business rather than the environment.
Winkler, however, did not play up the role reversal yesterday. Instead, he apologized for any tactlessness.
"I did not grow up in Taiwan and I am still ignorant of many Taiwanese ways," Winkler said, "Maybe my choice of words was unfortunate."
However, Winkler did not back down from his claim that the EPA has been fighting for the business community not the environment.
"The EPA sees its function and the function of the commissioners as passing cases as quickly as possible," Winkler said.
Edward Huang (黃光輝), director-general of the EPA's department of comprehensive planning, disputed that Environmental Impact Assessments for the reservoir site is out of date, saying that the supporting infrastructure has already been built within the three-year limit even though construction has yet to take place.
"[Environmental Impact Assessments Committee] members need to remember that they are an advisory body consulted for their expertise," he said.
Winkler said even the number of projects passed by this Environmental Impact Assessments Committee -- considered so touchy that it was termed the "obstacle" committee -- would result in a more than 40 percent increase in carbon dioxide emitted by Taiwan if they were all developed.
"We need to focus on a sustainable and long-term economy, not a short term economic vision limited to the length of a presidential or legislative term," he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS