The Taitung County Government on Monday appealed to the Supreme Court to overrule a verdict issued by the Kaohsiung High Administrative Court in October that revoked the county’s approval of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the construction of the Miramar Resort Hotel in Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣), saying that the move could help to mitigate financial loss should the resort’s developer demand state compensation.
Taitung County Government Secretary-General Chen Chin-hu (陳金虎) yesterday said that it is unlikely the judges would rule in favor of the county’s approval of the EIA report, which could prompt Miramar Resort Hotel Co to file a lawsuit against the government, demanding compensation to offset the losses it suffered for the build-operate-transfer project.
Taitung County Commissioner Justin Huang (黃健庭), who was re-elected in the nine-in-one elections on Saturday, also expressed concern over the possibility the company would demand indemnification, saying that the judicial system has negated the county government’s policies, and that the prospects of future assessments being acknowledged are bleak.
“Miramar will not tolerate a hotel complex in which it has invested more than NT$1 billion [US$32.3 million] becoming defunct. The Taitung County Government is prepared to face a lawsuit demanding state compensation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Thomas Chan (詹順貴), an attorney representing county residents and environmental activists who oppose the project, said the county government should not try to use the prospect of state compensation to browbeat the public.
He said such compensation is only upheld when the court deems that a government has breached the principle of legitimate expectation, in which case the government changes or cancels its decisions, thus failing to live up to people’s expectations and causing them financial loss.
“Miramar Resort Hotel Co started this incident by bypassing EIA procedures to construct the hotel, so the fault is not entirely on the county government. The judges might not necessarily uphold a verdict holding it liable for state compensation,” Chan said.
Lin Shu-ling (林淑玲), an Amis Aborigine and Taitung resident, criticized the county’s appeal, calling it a waste of public funds.
“The county government has approved two EIA reports by the company; both were revoked by judges. It should get the judges’ messages through its head,” Lin said.
“If the county government really wishes to avoid the scenario, it should lay out clear strategies and put this issue to a public discussion,” she said.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
RSS