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KMT slams CPC's refinery about-face

Government Information Office Minister Shieh Jhy-wey is the only one to raise his hand in the legislature yesterday when People First Party Legislator Fu Kun-chi asked if anyone present had a car with an engine less than 3,000cc. PHOTO: CNA

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday slammed a decision by the state-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC) to ignore the government's promise to relocate the petroleum refinery in the Houjing (後勁) area of Kaohsiung City's Nanzih District (楠梓) within 25 years.

KMT caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) told a press conference that the relocation was a promise made to residents of Houjing by former premier Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) and KMT vice presidential candidate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) when he was minister of economic affairs in 1990.

She said that CPC's plan would provoke new conflict between the company and local residents.

Kuo's comments followed a story in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) yesterday that said senior CPC staff had decided to disregard the policy while pushing for on-site renovation of the refinery.

"People in Houjing started to demonstrate against the plant nearly 20 years ago, demanding that Kaohsiung City [Government] take responsibility for the area's environmental pollution and that the refinery be relocated," KMT Legislator Joanna Lei (雷倩) said at the conference.

Lei showed reporters a bucket of oil she said had been provided by Kaohsiung City Council Vice Speaker Huang Shih-lung (黃石龍), an independent councilor.

"The oil in this bucket was extracted from the underground water below the [refinery's] P3C oil tank by the city's Environmental Protection Bureau at 10am on July 8, 2005," Lei said as she showed the black and sticky contents to the press.

Lei lashed out at the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, saying that it had broken its promises to improve the living environment of Kaohsiung residents.

Lei said although the DPP previously supported the relocation, the plan was obstructed by the government during the terms of former premiers Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), which allowed private businesses to utilize the land in Yunlin County's Mailiao Township (麥寮) where the refinery was scheduled to be relocated.

Lei said the DPP's change of heart showed that its promises to the people of Kaohsiung were "empty words."
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