Dozens of Changhua County residents and environmentalists staged a protest in front of the Ministry of the Interior's Construction and Planning Agency yesterday, demanding the government halt the construction of a petrochemical complex by Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Corp in Changhua County.
The Construction and Planning Agency was scheduled to conduct a second review of an application filed by Kuokuang for revised land use and development yesterday. No conclusion was reached.
Protesters put together a skit highlighting that the project is expected to emit 16 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
PHOTO: CNA
Displaying photos of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), protesters said the government had broken its promises to curb carbon emissions and conserve energy.
“Since Kuokuang said it would have to build its plant in China if the project does not pass its environmental impact assessment, let's give Chen Bao-lang (陳寶郎) [chairman of Kuokuang] an airplane ticket to China,” former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Lin Chung-mo (林重謨) said.
Lin also noted that Kuokuang has yet to reveal where the petrochemical plant plans to get its water — it is expected to consume 400,000 tonnes of water daily.
Changhua Coast Conservation Action Chairman Tsai Chia-yang (蔡嘉揚) said the ministry originally planned to designate the coastal area in Changhwa one of the nation’s most important wetlands, but that plan was halted by the Council of Economic Planning and Development (CEPD).
The county does not want the “high pollution, high energy consumption, high water consumption and high carbon-emission” Kuokuang Petrochemical Park, Tsai said.
Shih Yueh-ying (施月英), secretary general of Changhua Coast Conservation Action, said the location of the petrochemical plant falls in between two administrative districts, Dacheng (大城) and Fangyuan (芳苑) townships.
“There is an inter-tidal zone spanning these two towns, which is about 5km to 6km in size ... I have consulted with several scientists and they said the nation could consider registering it as a World Heritage site with UNESCO,” Shih said.
Showing a coastal map provided by Kuokuang, DPP Legislator Tien Chiu-ching (田秋堇) noted that the petrochemical plant will not just affect residents in Changhua.
“The polluted air generated by the plant will be blown south, affecting residents in Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan, and ocean currents from the south will also carry the pollutants to the north coast,” he said.
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