Reconstruction of the Central Cross-Island Highway between Kukuan and Techi, which was damaged by Tropical Storm Mindulle will be suspended until geological evaluation confirms that the area is stable enough for reconstruction.
"We have spent about NT$1.3 billion repairing roads damaged by the Sept. 21 earthquake in 1999 and NT$750 million on land conservation," Premier Yu Shyi-kun told reporters yesterday in Chiufen.
"The damage caused by Mindulle may cost between NT$4.5 billion and NT$9.2 billion for road repairs, NT$750 million for land and water conservation and NT$10.5 billion for fixing damaged reservoirs and equipment at hydroelectric plants," Yu said. "We'd waste more of the taxpayers' money if we don't decide to put it [road repair] off now."
The 25km highway segment was about to be reopened early last month when Mindulle hit, closing the road once more with falling rocks, landslides and mudflows.
Yu said that the Cabinet is drafting a special bill to cut down on or outlaw land development in mountain, coastal and flood-prone areas. The draft bill is scheduled for release by Oct. 7.
Yu also pledged to spend NT$100 billion over the next 10 years on land restoration projects.
According to Lin Sheng-feng (林盛豐), a minister without portfolio who briefed reporters about the road situation and the government's response measures, the suspension of reconstruction will cause inconvenience only between Lishan and Dongshih.
"The road between Lishan and Dongshi has been under repair since the Sept. 21 earthquake in 1999," Lin said. "Over the past five years, travelers have gotten used to taking advantage of the alternative route, Provincial Highway 14." The travel time between the two places will take an additional two to three hours, or an increase of NT$200 million in transportation costs a year.
Kukuan, a township with a population of 580, is known for its hot springs. Kukuan attracts about 398,000 tourists a year, with the tourism industry bringing annual revenues of over NT$980 million.
Most of the 3,200 Han and 1,300 Aboriginal people in Lishan make their living by growing fruits and vegetables. Lishan's annual agricultural output is worth NT$2.65 billion.
With Mindulle dumping a record amount of rain in central and southern Taiwan, the water-gathering area of the Dajia River running through Taichung County was filled with hundreds of millions of cubic meters of rocks and soil.
Equipment at six hydroelectric plants along the Dajia River was damaged. The cost to repair this damage is estimated at about NT$8.4 billion, and the repairs will take a year to complete.
With the highway segment blocked, maintenance and repair engineers can still enter the Kukuan generating plant from Lishan. In the meantime, the greater Taichung area's water supply will come from the Techi and Li Yu Tan reservoirs.
Road repairs between Kukuan and Dongshih are scheduled to be completed by the middle of this month.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RSS