Environmentalists yesterday called on Taitung county commissioner candidates to sign a petition against a proposal for a photovoltaic power station to be built on the Jhihben Wetlands (知本溼地).
Initiated by the Society of Wilderness’ Taitung branch and the Wild Bird Society of Taitung, the petition aims to prevent the county government from building what might be the nation’s largest solar power station on a 161-hectare plot of land that overlaps the wetlands in the city’s Jhihben Borough (知本).
Covering nearly 20 hectares, the Jhihben Wetlands have up to 185 bird species and is designated by BirdLife International as one of the nation’s important bird and biodiversity areas under its code IBA-TW040, the groups wrote in the petition.
Photo: Chang Tsun-wei, Taipei Times
However, Jhihben is not among the nation’s protected wetlands, the Ministry of the Interior’s Web site showed.
The wetlands are owned by the Puyuma people of the Katatipul community, so the county government has contravened Article 21 of the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act (原住民族基本法) by not obtaining their consent before leasing the land, they wrote in the petition.
The land should be designated as an ecological conservation zone, they said, adding that the county government should propose a new development plan after conducting surveys on ecological conditions and reaching a consensus with local communities.
After collecting 3,532 signatures for the petition as of yesterday, they have sent it to those contesting the county commissioner election, independent candidate and former county commissioner Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate and Taitung councilor Rao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴), Democratic Progressive Party candidate and lawmaker Liu Chao-hao (劉櫂豪), and independent candidates Huang Yu-ping (黃裕斌) and Peng Chuan-kuo (彭權國), they said.
Kuang, Liu and Huang have agreed to respond to the petition, which they would do on Tuesday next week so voters in the nine-in-one elections on Saturday next week could reference their positions, the groups said.
Liu this month promised he would suspend the development project if he is elected and criticized the county government for failing to respect local Aborigines.
To become self-sufficient in energy generation by 2050, the county needs more rational and open discussion on energy projects, Rao said, calling on Liu to propose a feasible renewable development plan to achieve the policy of making Taiwan nuclear-free by 2025.
Additional reporting by CNA
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
RSS