The government may have to spend more than it planned should the construction of the Suhua Freeway begin now, the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau said yesterday.
The bureau's deputy director- general Tseng Dar-jen (曾大仁) said yesterday that the price of construction materials had risen 30 percent in the past three years. The construction costs for the entire project may now exceed NT$100 billion (US$3.125 billion).
In 2003, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications only budgeted NT$93.7 billion for the project.
Tseng also participated in an environmental impact review of the planned Suhua Freeway at the Environmental Protection Administration on Thursday. He said yesterday that the bureau would quickly provide the supplementary information the committee members had requested.
He stated that the bureau had already adjusted the planned route of the Suhua Freeway at the request of local residents. Residents in Wuta (武塔), Ilan County, for example, had asked for the freeway to be built a little further away from the community. Also, to protect the natural beauty of Chingshui (清水) coastal cliff, Hualien County, the route will now be built approximately 700m to 1,100m away from the coast line, and will be constructed inside a tunnel.
Some of the committee members opposed the construction of the freeway on the grounds that it will be built among high mountains, generally defined as those whose altitude is 1,500m and above. In response, Tseng said the highest point of the planned route will be 104m above sea level. The highest point of the Chiang Wei-shui Freeway, in comparison, is 200m.
Regarding the request for a new environmental impact review, Tseng said the EPA had already approved the launch of the project in 2002. The administration has to consider whether overthrowing a previous decision by undergoing a second review will generate any legal issues, he said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
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