An arbitration tribunal on Friday ordered the Taitung County Government to pay NT$629 million (US$21.75 million) to Miramar Resort Hotel Co (美麗灣公司) to take ownership of the company’s coastal resort as locals and environmental groups claimed partial victory in their more than a decade-long fight against the build-operate-transfer (BOT) project.
Taitung County Commissioner Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴) at a news conference yesterday called the ruling fair and reasonable.
The tribunal saw fit to return the coastal site to Taitung residents, Yao said.
Photo: CNA
The resort was built on a beach at Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣) in the county’s Beinan Township (卑南).
The payment is about half the NT$1.219 billion Miramar had demanded in compensation from the county government when it filed for arbitration in August 2018, in accordance with the Arbitration Act (仲裁法).
Yao said the tribunal ruled that the county government had the legal authority to order the construction be halted in 2012 and that it had not contravened the original BOT agreement, as the situation was caused by “force majeure circumstances” and other uncontrollable factors.
The firm fought numerous legal battles against the county government, as well as a coalition of Aborigines and environmental groups.
Its executives said they filed for arbitration based on the BOT agreement signed in 2004 to build and operate the resort for 50 years before turning it over to the county government.
They said they sought compensation due to repeated delays in construction caused by demands to undergo environmental impact assessment (EIA) and other procedural setbacks, and financial losses resulting from not being able to operate the resort after completing its construction.
However, the tribunal ruled that the county government does not need to pay compensation, because the company undertook all of the phases of the project on its own volition, from the planning, design, construction and expansion to covering additional beach areas.
Therefore, the company needs to bear all of the expenses, as well as any operating losses, it said.
The tribunal ordered the company to turn over the resort’s buildings and facilities to the county government according to the terms in the agreement.
It calculated the value of the resort based on a formula submitted by county government officials to arrive at the NT$629 million figure the county government must pay to take ownership of the resort.
Yao said she would listen to people’s opinions on the matter.
County government officials are reportedly leaning toward preserving the resort’s buildings and facilities, and turning them into a public leisure park and a venue for international meetings.
Environmental advocates and local community members fighting the project claimed a partial victory, but were split on their suggestions, as some demanded that the resort be torn down to restore the beach.
Others sided with Taitung University professor Liu Chiung-hsi (劉炯錫) in agreeing with the county government that the resort was built legally under the BOT agreement and does not need to be demolished, except for an illegal expansion into the beach area.
Construction on the original 0.95 hectare site began in October 2005, but the company in April 2006 expanded the project to cover 6 hectares of public and private beach, triggering protests by residents and environmental groups, who called for an EIA and filed lawsuits.
The resort’s main structure was completed in March 2007 on land that was approved for use under the initial agreement, while the groups filed for litigation later that year, accusing the company of colluding with government officials for illegal benefits, along with theft of land and illegal dumping.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS