The Miramar Resort Hotel (美麗灣渡假村) yesterday defended the legality of its ownership and use of beachfront land amid remarks made by the Minister of the Interior Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源), who claimed the resort’s development in Taitung County’s Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣) is largely illegal.
The construction of the build-operate-transfer development project, undertaken by Durban Development Co and the Taitung County Government, started in 2004.
The local government provided the developer with a construction permit for an area only slightly smaller than one hectare which avoided the required passing of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for its actual development area, six-hectares in total, in advance.
Following a ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court earlier this year which revoked the project’s EIA result, the court last month ordered construction work on the project be halted following a lawsuit brought about by civic groups which sued the Miramar Resort Village for its flawed EIA process.
Environmentalists have urged the local government and the Ministry of the Interior to immediately tear down the facility.
On Wednesday, Taitung County Commissioner Justin Huang (黃健庭) said that “according to the opinion of our Economic Affairs Department, it [the development project] definitely isn’t substantially illegal, therefore there is issue of tearing it down” adding that the new EIA process should proceed with a neutral stance.
However, at the Legislative Yuan on Friday, Lee, in response to queries from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) about whether the construction should be torn down, said that, according to the court’s verdict, the resort is largely illegal and that his ministry has already asked the local government to explain how it intends to deal with the case.
In response, the resort, through a press release issued yesterday, said the Minister of the Interior may have misunderstood the court’s verdict and stated that the verdict only requested that the developer halt construction of its “already abandoned construction permit on the one-hectare area,” and not the whole building.
It added that the verdict involved “withdrawing the EIA conclusion,” and not “invalidating the EIA” as some others have argued, and therefore, the new EIA process — as applied by the developer this June — should be permitted to go ahead.
The group said that its ownership and use of the land are both legal because Shanyuan Beach was determined a scenic recreation area in 1986 and, given that Taitung County government is the owner of the land, it has the legal right to use the land and therefore the buildings located there should all be legal.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS