The Suhua Freeway fracas continued yesterday when Hualien Tourism Association president Shih Sheng-lang (施勝郎) criticized members of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Environmental Review Committee (ERC) for new construction delays.
"At the moment [the Hualien people] are not ruling out the possibility of going up to Taipei and holding a large-scale protest," Shih said.
During the administration's monthly ERC meeting on Friday, committee members passed an unscheduled proposal to "indefinitely" postpone the review of the long-standing Suhua case "until Chinese National Party [KMT] Legislator Fu Kun-chi offers a public apology for tarnishing their reputation and undermining their professionalism."
"In addition, there are too many unresolved issues about the case -- the timing is sensitive because of the pending election, several technical problems have not been addressed in terms of the case's environmental impact, and also, whether a `fast' road equals a `safe' road should be further debated," one ERC member said yesterday.
Fu, who has been a strong supporter of the Suhua project, on March 7 accused six ERC members of favoring another of Hualien's development projects -- the Heping village coal-burning power plant -- saying they were taking kickbacks from the power plant developer.
The postponement may mean that the decade-long review case, which finally received a conditional green light on Monday, could face further delays.
As for the Suhua case being discussed during an unscheduled meeting, Shih accused the committee of manipulating the case behind closed doors.
"No one notified us that this was going to happen," Shih said.
"The ERC has a disregard for the wishes of Hualien's people. The freeway can potentially bring us economic stability and employment opportunities, but now they are being denied," he said, adding that Suhua supporters from Hualien may hold a large-scale protest in Taipei.
Fu yesterday refused to offer an apology to the ERC, saying that the committee members should answer his question as to why they favored the power plant, which would emit 179 times more carbon than the Suhua freeway.
"If they want my apology, they need to pass the Suhua freeway case first," he said. "In today's world when everyone is against coal-burning power plants, they passed the power plant. Suhua Freeway is a mere road for Hualien people to safely go home on, but has evolved from a simple construction case into a politically sensitive matter."
"The ERC is using it as an election manipulator and I will not join in their dance," he said.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition