More than 100 representatives of maritime industry associations and labor unions gathered in front of the Kaohsiung City Council building to protest against the city government's final choice of two Kaohsiung Harbor piers as the location of a major public construction project.
Led by Yen Ming-chuan (
Yen said that the city government had ignored the association's suggestion that the nation's first pop music center be built on Pier 13. Instead it chose piers 16 and 17, which are commercially active areas.
PHOTO: CNA
Building the music center at piers 16 and 17 would threaten the livelihoods of the maritime industry in Kaohsiung, Yen said.
Kang Hsieh-cheng (
The city government has received a NT$4 billion (US$121 million) in funding from the Council for Cultural Affairs to build the center in Kaohsiung, but a dispute has arisen between the maritime industry associations, Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau and the city government over the location of the construction project.
The city government originally favored Pier 10, located in the middle of Kaohsiung's waterfront landscape, to build the center as a landmark for the city, but had encountered opposition from the harbor bureau and the industry associations.
On June 14, the city government decided on piers 16 and 17 after negotiating the matter with officials from the Cabinet, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the harbor bureau.
After the meeting, Deputy Kaohsiung Mayor Cheng Wen-lung (
Two days later, President Chen Shui-bian (
In response to the rally, Hsiao Yu-cheng (蕭裕正), director-general of the city's Department of Information, said the city government respected the suggestion of the associations, but added that he hoped the associations would stop their protest because the construction project had been finalized.
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