Huang Creek (
Many Tienmu residents are concerned about whether the Taipei City Government's Bureau of Public Works flood-prevention project will damage the ecology of Huang Creek
According to the bureau, flood-prevention work on Huang Creek, approximately 2.8km long, is part of the city government's Keelung River dredging project.
Huang Creek's flood-prevention work, according to Lo Jyhun-sheng (
Beauty Hsu (
"The fact that steel and cement are being built into the river bed is turning Huang Creek from a natural beauty into a big gutter full of dead water," Hsu said.
Cheng Kuang-yen (
Tienmu residents have other complaints.
"We were not well-informed when the city government first started its project on the creek," Hsu told the Taipei Times.
"It grabbed our attention only when we noticed that one day the trees along the creek had disappeared because the city government was working on the embankment."
"Many of us have seen workers felling the trees," Hsu said.
Criticizing the plans to lay cement on river bed and build floodways along the Huang Creek, Hsu said that alliance members had met numerous times with city officials since last April to voice their dissatisfaction as well as offer alternative flood-prevention suggestions that were more environmentally friendly.
"But all were in vain," Hsu said. "City officials told us that all the work had been planned and scheduled according to administrative procedure."
Explaining the division's position, Lo said that since Huang Creek is a part of Keelung River, the flood-prevention work has to follow the guidelines and standards set for the city government's Keelung River dredging project.
"The plans to heighten embankment walls were set by the dredging project even though local residents argued that such measures were not needed," Lo said.
Aside from stressing that the trees were removed to facilitate the construction of the embankment and that they would be replanted after the construction is finished, Lo explained that adding cement at the base of the embankment walls would strengthen the base.
Floodways along Huang Creek are needed to help ease the pressure of the river and to funnel floodwater when heavy rains hit, otherwise the river would be simply too narrow to hold the waters, Lo said.
While the work continues on Huang Creek's downstream section, Lo said that work on the up-stream area has been halted until the city government can reach a consensus with the residents.
Adding that tension had occurred between the residents and the city government at the beginning of the construction in March, Lo said that he is more than willing to sit down with the residents and listen to their concerns.
"It has never been our intention to purposely damage the natural environment of Huang Creek," Lo told the Taipei Times. "The primary reason we do what we do is to ensure the safety of people's lives and property. We are just attempting to ensure that those who live around Huang Creek will not run the risk of flooding in the future."
The construction project began in March and was originally scheduled to be completed in November.
But because the work is on hold until further a consensus is reached, Lo said that "the completion of Huang Creek's flood-prevention work, without doubt, will not meet the scheduled deadline."
"They [the city government] promised us that they would try their best to minimize the areas that need cement work to preserve as much of the natural environment as they can,"Hsu said. "We earnestly hope that will happen."
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