Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉) on Thursday urged the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) to rebuild the Central Cross-Island Highway (中橫公路), as agriculture and tourism in the region have been affected by the closure of the road in 2004.
In a meeting convened by the Aboriginal legislator, 12 representatives from Taichung County, including farmers and the heads of local villages and townships, expressed their need for the road to transport agricultural products and develop tourism.
The 192km Central Cross-Island Highway, which used to connect Taichung County in western Taiwan and Hualien County in the east, was the first highway to cross the Central Mountain Range.
After it opened to vehicular traffic in 1960, the highway was seriously damaged twice — once in 1999 by a 7.3-magnitude earthquake and again in 2004 because of extensive landslides caused by heavy rainfall brought by a typhoon — destroying 24.4km of the road. The damaged stretch of road is in Hoping Township (和平), an Aboriginal township.
After the rain of 2004, the Executive Yuan decided to suspend the reconstruction for ecological reasons.
The road was a notorious drain on central and local government resources, as the intensive farming in the region has left the Lishan area unstable, leading to landslides almost every year and requiring almost constant repair work, some environmentalists say.
“With the highway disconnected, farmers living in the Lishan area have to transport their fruit and other agricultural produce via Nantou or Ilan counties, which increases the shipping time and costs,” said Kung, adding that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has promised to build at least a crude road until the highway can be reconstructed.
Ma made the promise during a visit to Lishan (梨山) in July last year during his election campaign. Lishan was formerly a popular tourist spot well-known for its fruit.
In response, Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國), who also attended the meeting, said the government would try to repair the road as soon as possible. He added that NT$40 million (US$1.3 million) has been budgeted for the purpose and that work might start next year.
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