The build-operate-transfer (BOT) project at Dapeng Bay (大鵬灣), Pingtung County, may begin operations at the end of next year if it secures a permit from the Environmental Protection Administration's (EPA) environmental impact committee later this year, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday.
Johonson Sheu (許志雄), director of the Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area Administration, said the EPA's approval would allow the contractor to start working on some of the facilities listed in the project, including a Formula 2 race track, a landing area for ultra-light planes, hostels and a harbor.
POSTPONED
Sheu said, however, that the construction of the golf course would have to be postponed because of some unsettled environmental concerns.
Sheu said the project was supposed to begin in January. The EPA's impact review committee, however, had voiced concerns over the noise and air pollution that would be generated as a result of the development.
The developer had been asked to provide additional information, he said.
DIFFERENT STANDARDS
Sheu said the Formula 2 race track hopes to attract racers from all over the world and therefore should be evaluated using different standards. Nevertheless, the developer has assured the committee that it would minimize the amount of noise it creates and reduce the air pollution.
The entertainment park at Dapeng Bay will provide electric cars and a 16km bicycle lane for tourists, Sheu said. Part of the bicycle lane has been open to the public since August.
Sheu said the harbor was scheduled to be completed in 2010. By 2012, the developer expects to finish the construction of a five-star hotel and the golf course.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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