Kaohsiung residents and environmentalists yesterday called on the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to cancel plans to build Freeway No. 7 and consider alternative routes to alleviate safety concerns.
Before the start of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) meeting on the project yesterday, protesters gathered in front of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) building in Taipei to oppose the project — a 23km stretch of freeway connecting Siaogang (小港), Daliao (大寮) and Renwu (仁武) districts — designed to divert rising traffic volume around the Port of Kaohsiung.
The project is to be situated on the potentially active Cishan (旗山) fault line and areas that are prone to landslides, Taiwan Water Resources Protection Union spokeswoman Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said.
“Despite repeated requests by environmental groups, the developers did not propose any practical alternative during past meetings or solutions to potential risks, including soil liquefaction and dip-slope sliding,” Chen said.
The ministry and the Kaohsiung City Government — the project’s developers — failed to abide by the conclusions reached in previous EIA reviews, which stipulated that the developers should propose alternative projects and conduct a geological survey of the area, Chen said at the EIA meeting.
Yesterday was the ninth scoping meeting since September 2014, after the freeway project was saved from rejection.
In July 2013, the EPA’s Environmental Impact Assessment Committee rejected the project because it would pass through Fongshan Hills and the Fongshan Reservoir, potentially causing water pollution and ecological damage.
However, in August 2013, the EPA said the project should undergo a second round of EIA reviews, sparking accusations from residents and environmentalists of under-the-table dealings.
The meeting became heated, as residents accused the ministry of ignoring their opinions, while accommodating suggestions made by businesses, with Chien Chih-chiang (簡志強), director of a self-help group against the freeway project, slamming the table and yelling at ministry officials.
Chien accused the ministry of blocking discussions of two proposed alternative routes — Guanming Road in Daliao and west of the Gaoping River (高屏溪) — to force its own plans through.
The ministry said the two proposals were dramatically different from the freeway project and could not be considered viable alternatives.
The ministry also made changes to the end section of the planned freeway route, which would move it closer to local communities.
“The ministry claimed the change was made to protect Camel Hill (駱駝山), but it was in fact to go around a factory. The ministry is willing to tailor the route for a company, but not for residents. Is a company more important than communities and the whole Fongshan area?” Chien said.
“Residents have suffered from noise and vibration caused by trucks traveling past their homes, and the route change would only worsen our living quality,” Fight for Health Women’s Group Kaohsiung Chapter director Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀菊) said.
The meeting ended with little progress, with the committee saying the developers should assess the feasibility of expanding Freeway No. 1 and improving Freeway No. 1 traffic as alternatives to the Freeway No. 7 project.
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