Buddhist Master Shih Chao-hwei (釋昭慧) yesterday criticized the Taipei City Government for approving the rezoning of an environmental protection zone for government use after denying a similar request by the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation.
Shih said on Facebook that she “laughed” after seeing the city’s announcement that a plot of land in Shilin District’s (士林) environmental protection zone would be rezoned for government use, calling on Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) to explain why the city applied “double standards” on relaxing restrictions.
She said the problem was not the approval of any particular project, but rather the process under which “environmental protection zones” were continually being “relieved of their designation.”
Tzu Chi dropped its application to rezone a plot of land in Neihu District (內湖) after the city ruled that the application would only be considered as part of a comprehensive review of district land use.
Ko said that future rezoning of environmental protection zone land should only take place as part of a similar comprehensive review process.
“There’s still only one standard — the fire department had a building there to begin with,” Ko said in response to Shih’s criticism, adding that the city had only approved “building alterations.”
The Taipei Department of Urban Development said that the plot of land in question was an important fire department base that was originally constructed in 1976, adding that rezoning was required to perform needed reconstruction.
The department added that requirements for a comprehensive review in the Principles for Handling City Environmental Protection Zones (全市性保護區處理原則) passed by the Urban Planning Commission in November last year include an exception for “urgently needed public construction.”
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
IN FULL SWING: Recall drives against lawmakers in Hualien, Taoyuan and Hsinchu have reached the second-stage threshold, the campaigners said Campaigners in a recall petition against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) in Taichung yesterday said their signature target is within sight, and that they need a big push to collect about 500 more signatures from locals to reach the second-stage threshold. Recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) are also close to the 10 percent threshold, and campaigners are mounting a final push this week. They need about 800 signatures against Chiang and about 2,000 against Yang. Campaigners seeking to recall Lo said they had reached the threshold figure over the
RSS