President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday pledged to place a priority on the environment after the Environmental Protection Administration’s task force on Monday conditionally approved an improvement project for the Suhua Highway after what has been called the fastest assessment process in the nation’s history.
The decision came as about 2,000 Hualien County residents protested in front of the Executive Yuan on Monday, demanding speedy improvements to the highway, which was damaged by landslides caused by Typhoon Megi last month.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) told residents of Hualien and Taitung counties on Sunday that the government would definitely deliver on its promise to construct an alternative route to the dangerous Suhua Highway as soon as the plan passed an environmental impact review.
Ma yesterday said he has promised twice to Hualien County residents — November last year and February this year — that the project to construct an alternative route should begin at the end of this year provided it passed the environment impact assessment.
“The promise still stands and my position on the matter remains unchanged,” he said.
Taiwan cannot afford to neglect economic development, but it must learn how to strike a balance between environmental protection and economic development, Ma said.
“The Basic Environmental Act (環境基本法) states that environmental protection should be the priority if any economic or technological developments cause damage to the environment,” Ma said while meeting groups and individuals recognized for their outstanding contribution to environmental protection at the Presidential Office.
“Whether the developments will cause any damage to the environment will be decided by the experts conducting the environmental impact review,” Ma added.
Ma said he understood that the task force had conditionally approved the improvement project for the Suhua Highway, but he hoped the impact that the project would have on the environment would be heeded considering the area’s fragile geological structure.
Ma added that while the former Democratic Progressive Party administration put off the controversial issue and failed to approve the environment impact assessment, his administration had adopted a different approach.
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