The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) celebrated its 20th anniversary yesterday, and received a "tumor cake" as a gift from environmental protection groups keen to highlight what they see as the deterioration of the nation's environment.
The cake was made using polluted duck eggs, rice and oysters, which were then mixed with mud from the Central Cross-Island Highway (中橫公路). The oil used to blend the ingredients contained polychlorinated biphenyls.
Meanwhile, 20 candles were placed on top of the "cake." Each representing a controversial development, such as the Formosa Plastics Corp steel plant, the CPC Corp, Taiwan petrochemical plant and the planned Suhua Freeway (蘇花高速公路).
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Environmentalists said that like the candles, the pollution these projects would generate would spread like a tumor does in the body.
About 20 activists gathered in front of the EPA building yesterday morning to present the cake to administration officials, but no official came out to accept it.
Green Party Taiwan Secretary-General Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) said the EPA has degenerated from a guardian of the environment into an endorser of all development projects.
"The Suhua Freeway project may soon be launched because the premier has said it will, [while] the Formosa petrochemical plant will not be penalized for overuse of water on President Chen's [Shui-bian (陳水扁)] instructions," he said.
Pan said if the environmental impact review committee granted approval to all these projects, the nation's carbon dioxide emissions would increase by 40 percent.
Secretary-General of the Green Consumers' Foundation Jay Fang (方儉) said that late premier Yu Kuo-hua (俞國華) had once said "protecting the environment is superior to developing the economy."
Fang also said 20 years ago the press was allowed to attend all EPA events, except for major bid cases, but now the press has only restricted access to information from the agency.
"This shows that the administration is trying to control what information is disseminated and likes to work things out behind closed doors," he said.
Chairman of the Environmental Quality Protection Foundation Liou Ming-long (劉銘龍) said the foundation had applied to stage a "memorial service" on Chunghwa Rd, Taipei City, for all those who have died because of pollution.
"The EPA, like a reversing high speed train, is moving backwards," he said.
In response, EPA Deputy Director Chang Tzi-chin (張子敬) said the accusations regarding the projects being railroaded through were pure speculation. He said the environmental review impact committee had not yet reviewed any of the cases mentioned and that press participation at the meetings was the same as last year.
Chang said the administration would continue to communicate with environmentalists about their concerns.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS