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.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
The Taipei District Court today ruled to extend the incommunicado detention of former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) for two more months as part of an ongoing corruption trial. Codefendants in the case — real-estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and Ko's former mayoral office head Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗) — were granted bail of NT$100 million (US$3.4 million) and NT$20 million respectively. Sheen and Lee would also be barred from leaving the country for eight months and prohibited from contact with, harassing, threatening or inquiring after the case with codefendants or witnesses. The two would also be
RSS