Residents of Meinung township (
On Thursday evening, more than 100 Meinung residents and anti-incinerator activists attended a public hearing called by DPP legislators Hsu Chih-ming (
Hsu said that he would lead Meinung residents to protest in front of the Presidential Office if the local government failed to address the problem.
Controversy over the incinerator was sparked early this year after Meinung residents heard rumors that the facility was operating illegally.
An operator at the plant revealed that the incinerator sometimes burned waste at a temperature lower than was safe to do so.
In addition, residents said they believed hazardous industrial and medical waste had been transported to the plant in secret. The incinerator is only permitted to burn 110 tonnes of household waste daily.
After carrying out what they said was a long-term investigation, the anti-incinerator activists in Meinung claimed the procedure by which the government issued operating permits to the plant was questionable.
Local residents then filed a lawsuit in August and the case has since been taken over by Kaohsiung County district prosecutors. Last month, prosecutors interrogated several county government officials suspected of corruption linked to the incinerator. All were subsequently released on bail.
Investigations are now focusing on the process by which the plant's operating permit (操作許可) and construction license (建築執照) were issued by the local government.
Prosecutors said that one of the key points in question was that the waste incinerator was built in an area that previously was a buffer zone for the Laonung River (
Residents previously accused the Taiwan Provincial Government, before it was downsized, of arbitrarily narrowing the buffer zone along the river in 1998 to allow the incinerator to be built there.
Hsiao Chu-liang (
"The government, by allowing an incinerator to be built in a river buffer zone, has neglected the safety of millions living in the Kaohsiung metropolitan area downstream who rely on the river as a source of drinking water," Hsiao said.
During the hearing, local farmers played a videotape which documented what they said was "unusual crop damage" linked to the incinerator. Furthermore, the area affected by the damage is widening, they said.
One local resident, a mother, said that her child began suffering from asthma and a skin disease after the plant began to burn waste in September 1999.
She said that her child was only one of many in the area who suffered similar symptoms.
Due to strong local opposition, the plant has stopped accepting hazardous industrial waste for processing. Meinung residents, however, remain dissatisfied -- and say they will campaign until the plant is closed down permanently.
Hsu said that the plant should have already been shut down -- albeit temporarily -- while prosecutors conduct their investigations.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
RSS