Miramar Resort Hotel Co has demanded NT$1.2 billion (US$39.08 million) from the Taitung County Government in compensation for repeated delays in the construction of a resort project.
The company has filed a request for arbitration after exhausting administrative and legal means to keep the project alive, Miramar Resort Hotel deputy manager Lin Hung-che (林弘哲) said.
Taitung County Deputy Commissioner Chen Chin-hu (陳金虎) yesterday confirmed that the county government has received a court notice for arbitration and is putting together “the strongest team possible” for the legal fight to minimize financial effects on the county.
The project started in 2004, when the county government signed an agreement with the company to build a resort at Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣) in Beinan Township (卑南).
The agreement allowed Miramar to build and operate the resort for 50 years before turning it over to the county.
Construction on 0.95 hectares began in October 2005, but the company in April 2006 expanded the project to cover 6 hectares of beach area.
Environmental groups that year called on the county to conduct a new environmental impact assessment (EIA) to take the expansion into consideration.
The county put together a committee to conduct an EIA. After five meetings, the committee in 2007 approved the expansion.
The main structure was completed in March 2007 on land that was approved for use under the initial agreement.
The groups in June that year sued the county and the company on suspicion of collusion, theft and illegal dumping.
The groups filed another lawsuit two months later, demanding that the project be halted.
The Environmental Protection Administration asked the county government to instruct Miramar to halt construction.
In 2008, the county conditionally approved an EIA, which prompted environmentalists to file new lawsuits against the company saying that the construction license and EIA were invalid.
The High Administrative Court in 2010 ruled that the license was invalid and ordered the county to halt the development.
The Supreme Administrative Court in January 2012 ruled that there were irregularities in the county’s 2008 EIA approval, as some committee members were county officials.
Then-minister of the interior Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源) in October 2012 said that the resort should be torn down before another EIA could be carried out, because the construction was illegal.
In October 2014, the Kaohsiung High Administrative Court ruled that the seventh EIA on the expansion was invalid. The county appealed the ruling, but lost the appeal on March 31, 2016.
In November last year, Taitung County Commissioner Justin Huang (黃健庭) told the Taitung County Council that Miramar intended to file for arbitration.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
RSS