Dozens of Changhua County residents gathered yesterday at the Construction and Planning Agency (CPA) to protest the government's plan to build a science park in the county's Erlin (二林) Township.
The project to build a Central Taiwan Science Park in Erlin recently passed the fourth phase of environmental inspection by the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) panel.
Once the project completes a final round of assessment at the CPA, construction will start in Erlin, located in central Taiwan between Yunlin County and the Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪), one of the few remaining coastal areas in western Taiwan that have not been affected by industrialization.
PHOTO: CNA
The protesters, mostly workers in the fishing and farming industries, shouted that the “government has forgotten the farmers and fishermen.”
One of the protesters, surnamed Lin (林), said the residents felt helpless because they knew the government would not listen to their needs and that construction could begin in two weeks' time.
Over the past few months, the plan to introduce industries like optoelectronics and semiconductors in the park has run into strong opposition from the Yunlin and Changhua county governments, local residents, environmentalists and some EIA panelists.
Opponents say plans to discharge treated wastewater from the park into Jhuoshuei River would contaminate nearby farmland.
They also said the proposal's huge water demands could exacerbate severe subsidence problems in Erlin, which is already sinking by 8.4cm per year, the worst rate of subsidence in the nation.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
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