Dozens of residents from Greater Kaohsiung’s Dalinpu (大林蒲) area staged a rally in front of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday, protesting the South Star Plan (南星計畫) development project, before the start of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) general assembly meeting in the afternoon.
The South Star Plan’s first phase development project, a 46.64 hectare area of reclaimed land in Greater Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港) that has been targeted for development into a yachting industry park, was among the 14 cases to be discussed during the meeting.
“You will be overcome with sadness if you come and visit the area we live in,” a borough chief surnamed Huang (黃) told committee members and the project developer. “For so many years, the land has been filled with various types of foul industrial waste, including medical waste.”
Photo: Liu Li-jen, Taipei Times
“If the project is approved, we will become like the filling in a sandwich biscuit, squeezed in a small area between several industrial areas, including state-run refiner CPC, Taiwan, state-owned integrated steelmaker China Steel, and state-owned Taiwan Power,” he said, adding that many local residents have already become sick from air pollution.
A local resident in her 60s, Chen Yu-hsi (陳玉西), said she was furious that the area that she has lived in for more than 60 years used to have a beautiful coastline and quality farmland, but is now occupied by high-polluting industries.
Moreover, the last stretch of coastline may become developed by the yachting industry, leaving them with “no more place to breathe fresh air,” Chen said.
A member of a local culture protection group said that although major development projects are always touted as creating job opportunities in rural areas, they have instead created industries where working conditions are often “highly polluted, very dangerous, with long working hours and low salaries,” so young people are still eager to leave the area to seek employment elsewhere.
Other concerns include sediment from the ocean near the landfill area that may be contaminated with heavy metal substances and the pollution that may be caused by the yachting industry.
The project failed to pass the review yesterday afternoon, with the assembly citing an incomplete evaluation of the risks involved.
Several other cases that were discussed during the meeting yesterday also faced protests and opposing opinions from local residents and civic groups.
Residents from Yunlin and Penghu expressed concern that Taiwan Power’s plans to build a submarine cable between Yunlin County and Penghu County might lead to overpumping of groundwater, which might destabilize the foundation of houses nearby. They were also concerned about the negative effects of long-term exposure to high levels of electromagnetic radiation.
Meanwhile, residents from Miaoli County’s Yuanli Township (苑裡) protested against wind turbines being erected too close to their homes, saying it could pose a health risk.
They said that the wind energy company included in the project did not communicate with local residents before beginning its construction work.
Civic environmentalist groups expressed concern about the environmental monitoring project at Changhua County’s Changpin Industrial Park (彰濱工業區), questioning why a few important items were not included, such as the soil, groundwater and the rare species of Chinese white dolphin off the coastline near the park.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
The Grand Hotel Taipei has rejected media reports claiming that the hotel had prevented CBS from broadcasting coverage of the Beijing summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on its premises. Media reports alleging that the hotel owner, dissatisfied with CBS’s coverage, prohibited the network from broadcasting political content on the hotel premises, are not true, the hotel said in a statement issued last night. The reports were “inconsistent with how the hotel actually handled the matter,” it said. The hotel said it received a refund request from a
RSS