Following a court order for the Kaohsiung City Government to withdraw a proposed road construction in a major winter habitat for black-faced spoonbills, bird-lovers yesterday called on the city government to respect the verdict and put conservation above development.
To accommodate increasing traffic demand, the city government proposed building a 900m roadway cutting through the northwestern part of the Cieding Wetlands (茄萣溼地) — the nation’s second-largest habitat for black-faced spoonbills after the Cigu Wetlands (七股溼地) in Tainan.
The proposed project passed an environmental review in 2014, but local residents filed an administrative lawsuit demanding that the city withdraw the project.
Photo: Su Fu-nan, Taipei Times
The Kaohsiung High Administrative Court on Tuesday overruled the environmental review, but has yet to release its written judgement and reasons for the verdict.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs stated that the Cieding Wetlands is a nature reserve of national importance inhabited by black-faced spoonbills, peregrine falcons and other protected species, and developments such as the proposed roadway that would have a significant ecological impact should be avoided where possible, but the city government pushed the project despite feasible alternatives to the roadway, which was in violation of the Wetlands Conservation Act (濕地保育法) and the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (環境影響評估法).
Kaohsiung Wild Bird Society general manager Lin Kun-hai (林昆海) said that the environmental review process was hasty and flawed, as the review committee had a predetermined position on the project.
The committee overlooked a more cost-effective and environmentally sustainable option in favor of the roadway, whose advantage has been questioned because a 900m passage would hardly save time for travelers, he said.
Lin added that it was unreasonable for the committee to favor the roadway over an alternative solution that proposes to improve existing roads surrounding the wetlands.
Plans for construction of the roadway showed that it would be closed in winter to avoid disturbing migrating birds, thus making the roadway a dispensable option with a higher environmental cost compared with improving nearby roads, he said.
“The court’s overruling of the case was a clear message to the city government, warning it against having a predetermined mindset and disrespecting the review process. We call on the city government to accept the verdict and not to appeal the case to protect the environment,” Lin said.
FEELING MISUNDERSTOOD: Media speculation has fueled confusion about the KMT’s reasons for skipping a Chinese forum and delaying an AIT meeting, party sources said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Sunday said that it is not seeking to improve relations with the US or China at the expense of the other, and that its relations with the countries would be topic-based. The party has faced questions over its foreign policy after it on Monday last week announced its withdrawal from the annual Straits Forum and delayed planned talks with the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). The party has also taken a tough stance on the importation of US meat containing ractopamine, while also lambasting China for increasing its military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait. Following
Taipei City Councilor Wang Hao (王浩) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Monday called for security improvements to the MRT, as fare evasion has increased more than 13-fold on the metropolitan railway system over the past five years. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has spoken out against fare evasion and other contraventions of MRT regulations, but since he took office in 2015 the number of contraventions has more than doubled, Wang said, adding that there were 537 cases in 2015 compared with 959 last year. A video was posted to YouTube in June showing people how to evade paying a fare,
CONTROVERSY: NHIA Director-General Lee Po-chang said an outcry over overseas Taiwanese not paying premiums, but having coverage, is pushing rule amendments Rules changes are being considered that would force Taiwanese who permanently live abroad to pay National Health Insurance (NHI) premiums for the period they were overseas before they can re-enroll in the system, National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) Director-General Lee Po-chang (李伯璋) yesterday said. The case of a married Taiwanese couple who lived in the US for about 30 years, but returned to Taiwan in April and tested positive for COVID-19 has again sparked public debate over why Taiwanese living abroad are allowed to use NHI resources, — although the couple’s expenses were not covered by the NHI. An often cited example
AN EXAMPLE: After attending a memorial service for Lee Teng-hui, Mori said the former president’s career reflected the importance of peace and democracy Using military force to resolve conflict is no longer workable in this new era, which requires peaceful discussion, former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori said yesterday before leaving Taipei. Mori made the remarks at a news conference in front of the EVA Sky Jet Center at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), after leading a delegation to attend the official memorial service for former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水). This was Mori’s second trip to mourn Lee; his last was on Aug. 9. Although he walked with a crutch, Mori, 83, chose to stand right in front of
RSS