Thu, Mar 11, 2004 page2

• Green, blue camps fight over environmental issue

  POLICY REVIEWS At the heart of a row between the two camps is the completion, or not, of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant -- and the DPP wants another referendum

  • By Chiu Yu-Tzu / STAFF REPORTER
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  The pan-blue camp yesterday said it was determined to complete construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and restart a suspended dam project in the south if it wins the March 20 election. That statement drew criticism from both environmentalists and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators.

  No choice

  At a press conference held by several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to review the two camps' policies on sustainable development, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Bill Sun (孫國華) said the country has no choice but to rely on nuclear energy as a source of energy.

  "We can't deny the fact that 97 percent of Taiwan's energy sources come from abroad," Sun said.

  Sun argued that the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant had to be completed in order to ensure national security.

  In a report produced by the pan-blue camp, it argues that more reservoirs need to be built in order to prevent water shortages in central and southern Taiwan. Pan-blue camp representatives said that building new reservoirs would be crucial, especially in the south, to ensure water supplies.

  Asked if the dam project the pan-blue camp wanted to start was the controversial Meinung dam project in Kaohsiung County, which President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) suspended in July 2000, pan-blue representatives were reluctant to give a clear answer.

  "The proposed site can be further discussed. If it's not in Meinung, it would be somewhere else," Hu Szu-tsong (胡思聰), an associate professor at National Taipei University of Technology, told the Taipei Times.

  Sun, however, said the Meinung dam should be built anyway.

  DPP Legislator Lai Chin-lin (賴勁麟) said that several projects to build artificial lakes to collect freshwater have been processed.

  Unnecessary

  "That means that the KMT's favorite project, the Meinung dam, would be totally unnecessary," Lai said.

  As for the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, Lai said that the DPP had decided to have the plant's future decided upon through a referendum, which would be held at the end of this year when the legislative elections are held.

  Liang Chi-yuan (梁啟源), a research fellow at the Institute of Economics at the Academia Sinica, said the financial costs of scrapping the plant must be considered.

  "The topic can't be discussed only from environmental angle. Cost/benefit analyses should be released by the government too," Liang said.

  Shih Shin-min (施信民) of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union said the former KMT government had not only exaggerated the financial losses that would result from halting the plant's construction but also underestimated the potential prosperity of renewable energy.

  "Why hasn't the KMT been willing to discuss the cost of treating nuclear waste?" Shih said.

  Inconsistencies

  Cheng Hsien-yu (鄭先祐), convener of the No Nuke Taiwan Union, said that the inconsistencies between the two camps on environmental policies and energy issues showed the need for both to offer voters more information on their proposed policies.

  Chang Hung-lin (張宏林), secretary-general of the Society of Wilderness (SOW) -- the country's largest NGO with about 8,000 members -- urged both camps to hold press conferences to clarify their stances on major national projects as soon as possible.

  "We are trying to urge about 1 million cancer sufferers -- whose illnesses could be attributed to the deteriorating environment -- to vote for a camp in favor of improving the environment," Chang said.
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