Recent media reports that the Ministry of Economic Affairs had approved the mining of limestone in 12 mountain areas around Taiwan are very worrying. Apart from the Hsinchu County commissioner not having said anything on the matter yet, all other mayors, county commissioners and councils in areas where the permission for mining has been announced have strongly objected to the ministry’s decision.
I have researched environmental science and ecological conservation for almost 40 years. In the past, my calls for mangroves in the Jhuwei (竹圍) area of Danshuei Township (淡水鎮) to be protected were strongly supported by three media outlets and academics. Owing to former premier Sun Yun-suan’s (孫運璿) wisdom, a decision was made to protect mangroves in Danshuei and other areas.
The driftwood, landslides and thick mud left behind by Typhoon Morakot still have not been completely cleaned up and post-disaster reconstruction work is just about to begin. It is difficult to believe that under these circumstances, the ministry has given the go-ahead for forest area development, since that is one of the main causes of landslides. This is counterintuitive and makes me wonder if the government is thinking about protecting people’s lives and property or the interests of certain corporations.
I strongly protest the reopening of mining in Taiwan’s mountain areas, for the following reasons:
The cement industry uses vast amounts of energy and is a heavy polluter. Along with rising concerns worldwide about global warming and efforts to reduce carbon emissions and conserve energy, Taiwan stopped development of the cement industry several decades ago. I remember the mining operations in Kaohsiung City’s Banping Mountain (半屏山) and the resulting landslides that destroyed railroads and caused massive damage to life and property in the area more than 30 years ago. I remember feeling very upset on seeing bald cliff faces from the train passing Banping Mountain. Now, after decades of rest and rejuvenation, Banping Mountain is once again a beautiful and relaxing area covered in green vegetation. If mining had not been proscribed for that area at that time, the Morakot disaster could have caused even more damage.
The cement industry also emits high levels of dust and the production of cement creates hydrofluoric acid, an extremely acidic chemical that can strongly erode crops, buildings and clothing. In the 1980s, hydrofluoric acid was one of several pollutants emitted by a glass factory in Taoyuan County’s Bade Township (八德鄉), causing great damage to rice stalks, grapes, gladiolus, bamboo and Formosa acacia in the area, while also damaging the health of residents.
This is why environmental scientists and ecological conservationists are strongly against further development of industries using large amounts of energy and polluting the environment. Permitting mining to cater to corporate interests while ignoring the lives and health of residents and the environment is an incomprehensible thing for the government to do, especially before President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policy to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions is implemented and before the ministry’s Bureau of Mines completes economic impact assessments on the 12 areas listed for the future mining of limestone in central and southern Taiwan.
Inappropriate hillside development is one of the main reasons for landslides. More than a decade ago, I inspected ecological conservation work in Hongye Village (紅葉村) and the Twin Ghost Lake (大小鬼湖) in Taitung County together with the heads of the Society for Wildlife and Nature. Deep in the mountains in a nature reserve, we saw Cycas taiwaniana, a special species of cycas, and next to this we saw a large piece of land approved for mining. We called on the government to stop mining in this area because the mines were too close to the nature reserve, but I doubt they heard our plea.
Insufficient conservation in the mountain areas along the South Link Highway (南迴公路) from Kaohsiung County’s Jiasian Township (甲仙鄉) to Taitung and mining developments could be two of the main reasons for Siaolin Village (小林村) being buried and Taimali River (太麻里溪) being overrun with water, causing the Chin Shuai Hotel that rested on a riverbed to topple and fall in the river after its foundations were washed away.
With this fresh in our minds and while post-disaster reconstruction work has not even begun, the government has caused public fear with talk of permitting mining in mountain areas. It is really hard to tell whether the government is working for the public’s benefit or to help boost corporate profits. It also makes one wonder about the sincerity of the 90-degree bow Ma made when he visited affected areas. Was he just putting on an act?
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) has also said that mining development will not be permitted at Kaohsiung’s Banping Mountain, but what about the other 11 locations that the ministry listed? I urge legislators to demand explanations from the government and block decisions allowing mineral mining in the aforementioned mountain areas. If the government keeps brushing these issues aside, I am sure local residents will lose patience and hit the streets in protest.
I urge the legislature to immediately and thoroughly examine the blocked national land development plan (國土計劃法), the homeland restoration act (國土復育條例) and the coastline act (海岸法) and formulate related laws to implement policies for national land protection.
Had these three laws been passed three years ago, the floods and damage caused by Typhoon Morakot need not have been so huge and maybe the hundreds of lives lost in Siaolin Village could have been saved.
How many more lessons do we need from Mother Nature? We must stop sitting around watching the government ruin the environment in the name of economic development. I hope the government immediately restricts further development in the mountain areas.
Chou Chang-Hung is a member of the Academia Sinica and chairman of the National Committee of the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment.
TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON
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