The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) has agreed to make additional flights available to facilitate the holding of a referendum in the island county of Penghu on the development of casinos.
Following pressure from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), MOTC Minister Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) and Civil Aeronautics Administration Director-General Lee Long-wen (李龍文) promised that an additional 2,692 seats would be made available in the coming four days to ferry Penghu residents who now live on Taiwan’s mainland home so they can vote in the referendum scheduled for today, the DPP legislative caucus said.
The additional seats represent about 35 percent of the capacity of all flights serving the route operated by three domestic airlines.
The DPP caucus made the push after the Penghu Anti-Gambling Alliance said on Tuesday that many of Penghu’s registered residents, who live, study or work in Taiwan proper, have complained of the difficulty in securing flight tickets to allow them to return to the county to vote.
The alliance has recently launched a series of drives to urge Penghu voters to vote against allowing casinos to be built there.
If there is a majority vote for approving casinos, then the referendum — initiated by the Penghu County Chamber of Commerce and organized by the Penghu County Government — would be binding. Only registered residents of the archipelago, including those who work or study elsewhere, can vote.
The referendum was scheduled after an amendment to the Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例) was passed into law in January, legalizing the opening of casinos on Taiwan’s outlying islands.
The amendment requires that referendums be held to obtain the approval of local residents before opening casinos.
Yen Chiang-lung (顏江龍), an official with the Penghu Anti-Gambling Alliance, said Penghu has beautiful islands and beaches, as well as rich ocean resources — treasures that should be protected — and that the government should invest more in developing environmentally friendly tourism in the archipelago rather than building casinos.
“Building casinos is absolutely no way to help boost Penghu’s tourism in the long run,” Yen said.
However, Lan Chun-yi (藍俊逸), chairman of the Penghu County Chamber of Commerce, said he believed that a majority of Penghu residents support the casino idea.
“Once tourist hotels with casinos are built in Penghu, the archipelago’s tourism season will no longer be limited to six months of the year because of the seasonal northeasterly winds, while the young people will return to their hometowns,” Lan said.
He warned “outsiders” not to interfere in Penghu’s affairs any longer and to let its residents make their own decisions.
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