A group of environmental activists yesterday criticized Nantou County Commissioner Lin Ming-chen (林明溱) for suspending the enforcement of the Geology Act (地質法) in the county.
Promulgated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs last year, the act, which took effect last month, stipulates that a pre-construction geological survey and safety assessment must be conducted for every development project in designated groundwater recharge areas, including the Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪) alluvial fan, the Pingtung, Yilan and Chianan plains, as well as the Taipei and Taichung basins.
The act further stipulates that developers should cover any survey and assessment costs.
Lin has been quoted as saying that the act is a waste of time and money, as it requires a geological survey for all development projects in geologically sensitive areas.
He said areas in Nantou County designated as groundwater recharge areas, including Nantou City, as well as Caotun (草屯) and Mingjian (名間) townships, are not geologically unstable.
Lin said the designation of these areas as “geologically sensitive” would only create an additional cost of between NT$50,000 and NT$100,000 for each development case.
He asked the ministry to bear the cost of surveys and assessments and ordered the county government to halt enforcing the act.
Environmental activists decried Lin’s move, saying the act was a piece of progressive legislation and it was a matter of course that developers, instead of taxpayers, should cover the expense of geological surveys and assessments.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Man-li (陳曼麗) called on the ministry to maintain its position ahead of a public hearing of the act, saying: “The ministry cannot relax the laws just because local governments demand it, which would only obscure the legislative intention of the Geology Act.”
Taiwan Water Resources Protection Union director Jennifer Nien (粘麗玉) said groundwater is an important source of drinking water and the legislation was aimed to prevent groundwater depletion, adding that the Nantou County Government should not act at its own discretion and disregard the law.
Former Taichung Urban Development Bureau commissioner and architect Ho Chao-hsi (何肇喜) said the legislation was enacted to protect groundwater from being drained and requires developers to reserve a portion of a construction area to be left undeveloped so as not to obstruct water infiltration into groundwater sources.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard