With the first regular session at the Yunlin County Council beginning today, environmentalists in the county yesterday urged Yunlin County Commissioner Lee Ching-yung (李進勇) to mobilize all 13 county councilors of the Democratic Progress Party (DPP) caucus to help pass a draft bylaw that would prohibit plants from burning petroleum coke and coal.
Anti-PM2.5 Youth Action Alliance convener Chang Chia-wei (張家偉), who led a rally in front of the county government yesterday morning, called on Lee to announce that he would push for the passage of the draft within this session, to honor a pledge he made during his election campaign last year to ban the fuels.
PM2.5 denotes airborne pollutants less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, which are small enough to penetrate deep into people’s lungs.
Lee and the DPP caucus should make use of their combined influence so the council would prioritize the draft ordinance while reviewing county bylaws, Chang said.
He said that he recently visited several county councilors from different political camps, who all told him that the fate of the proposed bylaw would rely mainly on Lee’s determination.
Saying that council meetings are broadcast live over the Internet, he called for public scrutiny of the 40-day session, urging people to monitor the proceedings with their computers and smartphones.
Although the proposed air pollution ban pertains all plants, Chang said that yesterday’s rally was directed at the naphtha cracker in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮) managed by the Formosa Plastics Group, because it is the largest source of petroleum and coke, and has been passive about updating facilities to accommodate the change.
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
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