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Debate continues over impact of Suhua Freeway

"The freeway would alleviate the economic burden of Hualien, which is the city that scored highest in the `misery index.'"

Fu Kun-chi, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator-elect

The long debate over the construction of the Suhua Freeway resumed yesterday as the environmental impact assessment was launched anew.

While no conclusions were reached at the meeting, supporters of the project and rivals engaged in heated debate.

The Environmental Protection Administration's environmental impact review committee asked the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau (TANFB), the project's contractor, for supplementary information.

With an estimated three months before the information becomes available, the project, which environmentalists urged the committee to review objectively, will not likely be revisited before the new president comes into office.

First proposed in the late 1990s, the freeway would connect Ilan and Hualien. It has drawn supporters because of the potential boost it would give tourism and transport while raising fears over its financial and environmental impact.

In November, the environmental impact review committee requested that TANFB investigate a number of issues including land fracture and Aboriginal land preservation.

Yesterday, 15 environmental groups -- including Green Party Taiwan and the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association -- were present to call on the committee to safeguard Hualien's coastline and natural habitats.

"Taiwan would be contradicting its plan to push for a green economy if it were to build a freeway that damages the environment while promoting mass transportation," Wild at Heart's Chou Tung-han (周東漢) said.

Hualien government officials, on the other hand, were heavily critical and accused environmental groups of "cutting off the lifeline of Hualien residents."

"The freeway would alleviate the economic burden of Hualien, which is the city that scored highest in the `misery index' and has the highest percentage of population struggling financially," newly elected Chinese National Party (KMT) legislator-elect Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) said.

Arguing that the freeway was not Hualien's only option and expressing its concerns over groundwater and noise pollution, the committee asked TANFB to investigate the possibility of using current resources, such as railways and Highway 9.
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