The Ministry of the Interior’s Land Expropriation Examination Committee yesterday questioned the need for the R1 Boulevard project in Hsinchu City’s Hsiangshan District (香山), demanding a thorough re-evaluation of the proposal.
The committee meeting was held as student activists and Hsinchu residents affected by the proposed expropriation for the road project demonstrated in front of the ministry in Taipei.
The protesters burned paper ghost money to represent the previous land expropriation projects in the area that they said had taken the “lifeline” of residents.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
“The road will cost a whopping NT$ 4.6 billion [US$ 153 million] to build, but it will only save an average of 2.8 minutes for commuters from Hsiangshan to the Hsinchu Science Park and other areas of the city,” said Wang Shao-fan (汪少凡), a student of National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu and a member of the Anti-R1 Action League.
Wang said that it is hard to see the need for a 30m wide boulevard in the area, which is not known for heavy traffic.
The R1 Boulevard project was proposed in 2010 by Hsinchu Mayor Hsu Ming-tsai (許明財), a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member, to connect Jiadong Scenic Boulevard (茄苳景觀大道) to the West Coast Expressway (Provincial Highway No. 61) by cutting through Hsiangshan’s hilly terrain.
“I have lost land to expropriation four times over the years,” said Wen Rui-Hsiang (溫瑞香), who is in her seventies.
While some previous projects, such as the widening of Hsuan-juang Road (玄奘), were a benefit to local residents, the R1 project does not make any sense at all, Wen said.
“What is the point in building a boulevard through a hilly area? It is a disaster for the environment and it will also destroy more than half of the farmland along Hsuan-juang Road,” said Chen Shang-Cheng (陳尚承), another local resident.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
Firefighters are working to put out a fire on Taipei’s Yangmingshan (陽明山) reported earlier this morning. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The Taipei Fire Department said it received a report of a fire at Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) at 11:17am, dispatching four command vehicles, 16 firetrucks, one ambulance and 72 personnel. The fire is still burning on about 250m² of land, according to initial estimates, as eyewitnesses reported seeing smoke rising from the mountain. The Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters on Facebook said the Qixingshan (七星山) hiking trail starting from Xiaoyoukeng and the Xiaoyoukeng parking lot are closed as firefighters work to put
RSS