Calling for the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to suspend the execution of the latest, “illegal” environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Miramar Resort Village in Taitung County, a dozen representatives from nine civic environmental groups yesterday presented their requests in front of the administration.
Organized by Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan (CET), the groups said the Supreme Administrative Court had already reached a final verdict which declared the EIA conclusion of the beachfront Miramar Resort project in Taitung County’s Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣) invalid earlier last year, but the local government neglected the ruling and held another controversial EIA meeting that gave approval in December last year.
The groups said that because the latest EIA meeting was conducted illegally and Miramar said it would commence trial operations in May, they said they had already filed a complaint to the EPA on March 5 and that they were making another formal request yesterday morning asking the administration to put a stop to what they called “the worst development case in the history of Taiwan’s environmental issues.”
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“It was an invalid EIA meeting ... and if it is allowed, it will set a bad precedent for future cases, demolishing the EIA system,” said Thomas Chan (詹順貴), an attorney affiliated with the Primordial Law Firm who works closely with environmental groups.
“I believe the EIA conclusion will be withdrawn again if the lawsuit goes to administrative court,” he said.
Chan said that the conclusion was illegal because the case was not reviewed at the central government level, as it should have been according to administrative procedures, the review committee members did not avoid conflicts of interest, the case was evaluated on a continuing basis rather than starting fresh and the conclusion gained conditional approval but lacked provisos, he said.
Taiwan Environmental Protection Union academic committee convener Gloria Hsu (徐光蓉) accused the EPA of allowing developers to apply to alter the restrictions of the EIA’s conditional approval and urged the Miramar Resort Village to stop destroying the beach.
Aboriginal folk singer Takanow (達卡鬧), the convener of an alliance against the Miramar project, said the alliance was worried that a domino effect will lead to more such development projects along Taiwan’s east coast bypassing their EIAs, and said local residents want jobs compatible with environmental protection, unlike the ones provided by the resort.
He and Lin Shu-ling (林淑玲), an Amis Aborigine who lives in the area, said that some local people are planning a social movement encompassing environmental and Aboriginal issues along the east coast in a walk from Taitung County to Taipei next month.
A NT$39 receipt for two bottles of tea at a FamilyMart was among the NT$10 million (US $312,969) special prize winners in the January-February uniform invoice lottery. FamilyMart said that two NT$10 million-winning receipts were issued at its stores, as well as two NT$2 million grand prizes and three NT$200,000 first prizes. The two NT$10 million receipts were issued at stores in Pingtung County and Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山). One winner spent just NT$39 on two bottles of tea, while another spent NT$80 on water, tea and coffee, the company said. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven reported three NT$10 million winners — in New Taipei
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
RSS