A project involving 800-hectare Yunlin Great Lake (
When inspecting a proposed site for building a 1,800-hectare recreation park featuring eco-tourism in rural Yunlin County yesterday, Chen said the lake deserves to be built because the project would definitely benefit the county.
PHOTO: LIN KUO-HSIEN, TAIPEI TIMES
Both state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (Taisugar) and the Yunling County Government will jointly develop a park comprising an 800-hectare artificial lake, a 400-hectare recreation zone and a 600-hectare forest.
Chen praised the capacity of Yunlin Great Lake that will be part of four townships. The total area of the lake will be five times that of Chengching Lake (
"Building more artificial lakes is exactly what we need in Taiwan because the dreadful topographical and weather conditions made it challenging for us to keep water efficiently," Chen said.
The man-made lake will be used for irrigation, flood control, and tourism. Developers hope to complete the project within five years.
"The project involving an artificial lake, which can not only store water but also prevent land subsidence, will be a successful model combining ecological preservation and tourism promotion," Chen said.
Local officials said an ecological preserve will be established nearby to create an biologically diverse environment.
Yunlin has been an impoverished rural county for decades. Due to recent development of Yunlin Offshore Industrial Park (雲林離島工業區) and other industrial zones, the county is becoming industrialized.
Meanwhile, ecological tourism and recreational activities are being promoted. Chen said the recreation park will be further diversified by flourishing coffee tourism in nearby Kukeng township and a new NT$800 million baseball stadium in Touliu township.
Chen said he would ask the Cabinet to incorporate the lake project into the government's five-year plan of spending NT$500 billion on public-works projects in an attempt to bolster the economy.
Chen said the project would be the county's lifeline in the future.
"I'm glad to see that it efficiently takes advantage of Taisugar's unused land, further benefiting the company, the local authority and the residents," Chen said.
Chen said he personally hoped that Yunlin County Commissioner Chang Jung-wei (
According to the Cabinet, other two projects involving artificial lakes in counties of Kaohsiung and Tainan will be also included in the budget for public-works projects.
An artificial lake would function as a reservoir during times when rain is scarce and as a flood control device during times of torrential rains.
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