The Supreme Administrative Court decided last week that the controversial Miramar Resort Hotel (美麗灣渡假村) construction project should cease operations. The company is now considering laying off about 40 employees.
Miramar Group signed a contract with Taitung County Government for the build-operate-transfer (BOT) beachfront hotel project in 2004, and began construction of the main buildings in Taitung County’s Shanyuan Bay in 2005.
The project has faced continuous opposition from environmental groups and local residents and even its Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) approval was withdrawn by the Supreme Administrative Court early last year after civic groups filed a lawsuit saying that the process was flawed.
Photo: Chang Tsun-wei, Taipei Times
Despite the opposition, the Taitung County Government went ahead with an EIA meeting late last year, giving a new approval to the project, and permitting the company to continue construction earlier this year.
To stop construction, civic groups applied for a provisional disposition, which resulted in the Kaohsiung High Administrative Court ordering the company to halt construction in July. The company and the county government then filed an appeal against that result.
The Supreme Administrative Court issued a final ruling last week that the project must be halted.
Resort’s deputy manager Chu Ying-chou (朱膺州) said the company was disappointed with the ruling, because it has already spent about 10 years on the project and is nearly finished, but will have to spend much more money on loan interest and personnel expenses if the project is halted now.
The company is working on arranging other employment opportunities for about 40 employees hired by the resort in a bid to save millions of dollars on personnel expenses every month and to minimize the negative impact on the careers of these employees, he said.
More than a dozen civic groups — including the Anti, Anti, Anti (反反反行動聯盟) movement — an amalgamation of environmental groups dedicated to removing the hotel that filed a lawsuit claiming the EIA process was flawed — issued a joint statement yesterday afternoon, urging the county government and the company to stop their illegal conduct and conform to the court’s ruling.
“The Taitung County Government should bear the most responsibility,” the groups said, adding “we are not against development in Taitung County, but we cannot accept a company illegally destroying Shanyuan Bay, or the local government’s arbitrary explanation of the ruling protecting the company.”
The groups also reprimanded the county government for turning a blind eye to the company shifting the blame to civic groups and individuals who are concerned about the environment.
They urged Miramar Group to take corporate social responsibility seriously by apologizing to the public and withdrawing the project.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS