A much-talked-about documentary depicting how the nation’s environment has been ravaged prompted Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) to demand that Cabinet officials “take an iron fist” to environmental problems, Executive Yuan Deputy Secretary-General Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) said yesterday.
Chien told a press conference following an intergovernmental meeting that Jiang has ordered Cabinet members to carry through “forcefully” policies that have become necessary because environmental preservation is a task that “allows for no delay.”
The Cabinet yesterday held the first meeting of an ad hoc task force led by Chien and attended by vice heads of related government branches.
Photo: CNA
Jiang ordered the establishment of the task force after he attended a screening of the film Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above (看見台灣) by Chi Po-lin (齊柏林) that documents Taiwan by using aerial photography.
Government agencies were divided into five teams to work on 16 major national conservation issues exposed by the documentary and will present an initial report to Jiang in one month, Chien said.
Among the issues were illegal mining of gravel and sand, sediments in water reservoirs, land subsidence induced by pumping excessive underground water, excessive hillside development and river pollution, he said.
The task force categorized the 16 issues into four topics — mining of sand and gravel, management of coasts and hillsides, environmental quality and development in sensitive areas — with government branches related to each of the topics being assembled in a group to work on the issues, Chien said.
The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior were in the fifth group, charged with ensuring necessary enforcement measures take place to crack down on illegal activities that damage the environment, he added.
The task force will meet every two weeks to draft short, medium and long-term solutions to environmental problems, Chien said.
“We will take a holistic approach and not just focus on the 16 problems,” he added.
Earlier yesterday about a dozen representatives from environmental groups protested outside the Executive Yuan and accused the government of continuing environmental destruction.
The film shows how state land is being excessively developed, and the damage caused by illegal gravel mining or inappropriate land use, but the Cabinet is still trying to amend laws that would loosen restrictions on development in reservoir water catchment areas, the protesters said.
Taiwan Environmental Protection Union founding chairman Shih Hsin-min (施信民) said that if the government really watches the film and “sees Taiwan” (the literal translation of the film’s Chinese name), it would cancel the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, retire nuclear plants currently in operation, stop destroying high-quality farmland and stop any development in water catchment areas, among other measures.
Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘), spokesman for a self-help group against land expropriation for the Danhai New Town phase-two project, said the vacancy rate is already very high in the new town’s phase-one area, yet the government still wants to develop the 1,168-hectare second-phase area that will include 871 hectares of farmland or forest land, “which will destroy natural ecology and human rights.”
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS