Premier Lin Chuan (林全) and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) on Saturday apologized for persistent air pollution in the Dalinpu (大林埔) area of Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港), which is surrounded by oil refineries and steel mills, with both vowing to improve the air quality and protect residents’ rights should they be relocated.
In a meeting with Dalinpu residents to discuss whether the village should be relocated, Lin, Chen and a group of executives bowed to Dalinpu residents to apologize for the pollution created by state-owned China Steel Corp, Taiwan Power Co, Taiwan International Ports Corp and oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan.
“My heart is heavy, because I know the problems in Dalinpu were, as residents’ representatives have pointed out, caused by government mistakes in planning industrial and residential areas and maintaining the standards of living of residents,” Lin said.
Dalinpu, a 123 hectare area with a population of 19,000, has suffered from heavy pollution since coastal areas to its north were developed into an industrial zone in 1972, with oil refineries, power plants, steel factories and port facilities generating air and noise pollution and heavy traffic.
Various plans to relocate local residents have been proposed over the years, with the cost of relocation estimated at between NT$60 billion and NT$70 billion (US$1.87 billion and US$2.19 billion). A preliminary city government survey found that 88 percent of residents in Dalinpu’s six coastal boroughs have agreed to relocate on favorable terms.
While relocation is a difficult decision, the majority of residents are willing to relocate, suggesting the gravity of the pollution problem, Lin said.
The Executive Yuan will support the Kaohsiung City Government in planning the relocation and communicating with residents, as well as in organizing pollution remediation efforts, he added.
The premier vowed to improve the air quality regardless of whether the relocation is carried out and to offer residents favorable terms if a relocation is needed.
“Should relocation be necessary, every resident will be offered favorable terms for housing and property ownership,” Lin said. “Things will not get worse than they are now.”
Some residents objected to relocation, saying it is the factories that need to move, and asked the government to improve the air quality by instituting an industrial transformation.
They demanded that a comprehensive health assessment and a census of residents’ willingness to relocate be conducted, while suggesting additional compensation measures should a relocation plan be adopted.
Outside of the community center where the meeting was held, environmental groups staged a protest to demand that the government cease all ongoing and planned development in the area to reduce pollution.
Chen promised to launch a census next year on a relocation plan that would be most favorable to residents, saying that the city government would prioritize plans to reduce pollution in the area.
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