Three-quarters of Hualien County residents support the construction of the Suao-Hualien Freeway, according to the latest polls.
The construction of the NT$96.2 billion freeway project was originally slated to begin by the end of last year but was pushed back three months because of pressure from local environmental groups.
The Cabinet's decision to delay construction had been made in response to a request by Hualien County Commissioner Hsieh Shen-shan (謝深山), who had claimed that the county needed more time to map out supplementary plans and that the freeway may damage the environment.
The poll, conducted by TVBS, the China Times and United Daily News at the request of the Hualien County Government, showed that 77 percent supported building the freeway, while 17 percent expressed opposition and 6 percent had no opinion.
In the survey, 77 percent of residents felt that there was a need for the freeway, 85 percent said that the freeway would help boost the local economy and 86 percent that the freeway would help improve the transportation situation in the area and help boost tourism.
Despite protests from environmental groups about the hazards of freeway construction, 75 percent of residents surveyed in the poll said they were not worried that the freeway would lead to a decline in the quality of life and 75 percent were unconcerned about the possibility of population outflow from the region that the freeway could cause.
On the other side of the issue, 35 percent of those polled are worried about the environmental impact of freeway construction.
The phone survey was conducted between last Tuesday and Thursday and polled 1,070 Hualien County residents over the age of 20.
"The central government should respect the majority opinion and quickly resume plans for the construction of the Suao-Hualien Freeway," Hsieh said.
"Also, complete supplementary plans should be made to complement the construction," he said.
Hsieh expressed that he had simply relayed to Premier Yu Shyi-kun in mid-December that residents were hesitant about the freeway, especially since complementary plans had not been made.
According to a local newspaper, very few people refused to participate in the poll. Hsieh also commented that he was proud of the Hualien County resident's democratic standards.
Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said that the Cabinet would announce when construction of the road would begin after receiving an official notice from the Hualien County Government.
"We're glad that the county government and county council have successfully integrated local public opinion, which we greatly respect," Lin said.
Yu said he hoped that the county government and council would negotiate with environmentalists in the county.
"We'd also like to hear their grievances and concerns so the project will receive the utmost support of the public," Lin said.
Thirty-five earthquakes have exceeded 5.5 on the Richter scale so far this year, the most in 14 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said on Facebook on Thursday. A large earthquake in Hualien County on April 3 released five times as much the energy as the 921 Earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, the agency said in its latest earthquake report for this year. Hualien County has had the most national earthquake alerts so far this year at 64, with Yilan County second with 23 and Changhua County third with nine, the agency said. The April 3 earthquake was what caused the increase in
INTIMIDATION: In addition to the likely military drills near Taiwan, China has also been waging a disinformation campaign to sow division between Taiwan and the US Beijing is poised to encircle Taiwan proper in military exercise “Joint Sword-2024C,” starting today or tomorrow, as President William Lai (賴清德) returns from his visit to diplomatic allies in the Pacific, a national security official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said that multiple intelligence sources showed that China is “highly likely” to launch new drills around Taiwan. Although the drills’ scale is unknown, there is little doubt that they are part of the military activities China initiated before Lai’s departure, they said. Beijing at the same time is conducting information warfare by fanning skepticism of the US and
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is unlikely to attempt an invasion of Taiwan during US president-elect Donald Trump’s time in office, Taiwanese and foreign academics said on Friday. Trump is set to begin his second term early next year. Xi’s ambition to establish China as a “true world power” has intensified over the years, but he would not initiate an invasion of Taiwan “in the near future,” as his top priority is to maintain the regime and his power, not unification, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University distinguished visiting professor and contemporary Chinese politics expert Akio Takahara said. Takahara made the comment at a
DEFENSE: This month’s shipment of 38 modern M1A2T tanks would begin to replace the US-made M60A3 and indigenous CM11 tanks, whose designs date to the 1980s The M1A2T tanks that Taiwan expects to take delivery of later this month are to spark a “qualitative leap” in the operational capabilities of the nation’s armored forces, a retired general told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview published yesterday. On Tuesday, the army in a statement said it anticipates receiving the first batch of 38 M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks from the US, out of 108 tanks ordered, in the coming weeks. The M1 Abrams main battle tank is a generation ahead of the Taiwanese army’s US-made M60A3 and indigenously developed CM11 tanks, which have
RSS