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EPA sets Suhua meet date

Staff reporter

A meeting will be held on Tuesday to review information on the Suhua Freeway project which could receive final confirmation from the Environmental Protection Administration's (EPA) environmental review committee (ERC) as early as next month, EPA Minister Winston Dang (陳重信) told reporters yesterday after a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan.

Dang rebutted allegations that the proposal was being rushed through in time for the presidential election.

Should the review process go to schedule and the proposal be passed during the March 18 meeting, the project may be submitted to the ERC for a final decision as early as next month.

However, several variables remain, Dang said.

"We would not rule out the possibility that a subsequent meeting may be deemed necessary before the final submission," Dang said.

In addition, there has been speculation about whether some committee members would show up for the meeting.

Last Friday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅焜萁) alleged that members of the case committee for Hualien County's Heping Village (和平) coal-burning power plant proposal, six of whom are also on the Suhua Freeway's case committee, were taking kickbacks from the power plant's developers.

Dang, who earlier this week condemned Fu for "insulting the professionalism and moral integrity of the committee members," told reporters that "the administration would respect their wishes either way" if they decided not to show up for the meeting in protest at Fu's remarks.

"If they do decide to sit out the meeting, the Suhua case review may be postponed," he said.

Yesterday's question-and-answer session was originally supposed to focus on the results of a national river clean-up campaign, but legislators only wanted to discuss the Suhua Freeway.

KMT Legislator Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) blasted the administration for passing the 11-year proposal at such a sensitive time.

"It is regretful that though the ERC members are academics and professionals, they continue to service politicians," Liao said.

In response, Dang denied that the Suhua review was connected to the presidential election, saying that the administration reviewed construction cases when it received proposals from project contractors.

On March 3, the proposal received a conditional green light from the case committee, with a request for the submission of supplementary information to be reviewed at an additional meeting, Dang said.

On Tuesday, after the contractor, the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau, submitted the requested information, the administration "followed protocol and sent out meeting notices to committee members for the next meeting," Dang said.

As per regulations, the meeting was set to occur within seven days of the receipt of the supplementary information, which was Tuesday, Dang said.

"The EPA serves as a goalkeeper for environmental issues related to construction projects -- we approve or reject cases based on their environmental feasibility," Dang said.

"It is a common misconception that the EPA decides whether the Suhua Freeway should be constructed -- rather, we only advise project contractors on whether their construction would negatively impact the environment. After receiving our advice, it is their choice whether or not to go ahead with the construction," he said.

Meanwhile, a group of first-time voters opposing the construction of the freeway staged a protest outside Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) campaign office yesterday morning, urging Hsieh and his KMT rival Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to be clear on their position and sign a pledge to oppose the planned project.

Singing a self-composed song titled No Freeway for Freedom, the young petitioners asked the candidates to specify clearly where they stood on the issue. They also pledged to intensify the fight against the project if the winning candidate allows the construction to go ahead.

Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling
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