The National Science Council's (NSC) proposed budget for purchasing land to build a bio-medical technology park has been turned down by opposition legislators, who say the high purchase price would be a waste of taxpayers' money.
The planned biomedical technology park covers 38.3 hectares of land in Chupei (
At the Legislature yesterday, the NSC proposed a purchase price of NT$ 4.45 billion for the land to build the park. The proposal was immediately slammed by legislators who took exception to the land's high unit price -- NT$70,000 for each ping (坪).
A ping is about 3.34m2 or about the size of two tatami mats.
According to KMT lawmaker Liu Cheng-hung (
Liu said that a comprehensive investigation needed to be carried out to clarify the controversial point about the high price, which was offered by the land owner, the governement's own Bureau of Taiwan High Speed Rail (
"We have to know how the bureau purchased the land," Liu said.
Some legislators said the NSC should consider purchasing cheaper land somewhere else. "Why don't you propose building the park in remote coastal areas near the Changpin Industrial Park (
Some legislators said that the NSC lacks the capability to integrate resources pertaining to bio-tech R&D and related industries.
The planned function of the biomedical technology park would be similar to that of the National Health Research Institute nearby.
According to NSC Chairman Wei Che-ho (魏哲和), the proposed park is one of the essential parts for the Cabinet's "Challenge 2008" six-year development plan. Wei said that building a world-class bio-medical research center would boost related industries in Taiwan.
In addition, Wei said, industries at the proposed park could further interact with other related industries in the nearby Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park.
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