The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) defended Environmental Review Committee (ERC) members yesterday amid allegations they had colluded with construction companies to approve proposals.
During an interpellation session in the legislature last Friday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅焜萁) suggested that six out of the 11 ERC members responsible for reviewing the construction proposal for the Heping coal-burning power plant in Hualien County had taken cash to approve the project. Fu noted that the six also served on the review committee for the Suhua Freeway proposal.
"Considering the speed at which the Heping case was passed, compared with the hold-up for the Suhua Freeway case, one could suspect that the committee members had received kickbacks from developers," local media reports quoted him as saying.
"If [Fu] is trying to say that money had changed hands under the table for the Heping case, we can immediately request a legal investigation," Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) was quoted as telling Fu in response.
Minister of the Environmental Protection Administration Winston Dang (陳重信) condemned Fu at a press conference yesterday for "a poor demonstration of the power of public influence."
"The allegations legislator Fu made about committee members is an insult to their integrity. The members are all professionals and academics in the field of environmental impact review and they follow legal regulations in the review process," Dang said.
"While we respect all the speculation legislators may make ... after an ERC committee is selected, the members should have the liberty to review construction cases independently, even if their decisions upset the supporters or opponents of the Suhua case," he said.
Dang's comments same on the same day the Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau, in accordance with the Suhua ERC's request, filed additional information on the construction proposal.
The committee must meet within one week of receipt of that information, and if the members consider the submission sufficient, a final decision may finally be made in the 11-year-old case.
Asked by reporters whether the Suhua ERC would continue reviewing the case, or postpone it because of the possible investigations of its members, Dang said that he respected the committee members and would leave the decision up to them.
Should the review process move ahead as scheduled, the committee could reach a decision at a meeting on Monday. If that happens, the Suhua case would see its final verdict from the EPA as soon as next month, Dang said.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
RSS