The Taipei City Government yesterday said that it is considering adjustments to a development plan for the Shezidao (社子島) peninsula in the Shilin District (士林).
“We do not necessarily need to protect the entire peninsula with high dikes,” Taipei Deputy Mayor Charles Lin (林欽榮) said.
Construction on the peninsula has been forbidden since the 1970s, because of flooding concerns given its low-lying position between the Tamsui (淡水) and Keelung (基隆河) rivers. The current plans under environmental review call for construction to be allowed after 14 years, following a substantial increase to the height of a dike that surrounds the peninsula.
Lin said that existing plans can be adjusted so that only core infrastructure — such as electricity transmission and schools — are placed behind the highest dikes, with less critical construction behind shorter dikes and a portion of the peninsula potentially being returned to the rivers. Such an adjustment would reduce the project’s cost to the municipality and allow construction on protected areas to begin within four or five years, he added.
His remarks came after comments by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) late on Wednesday calling the current development plans extremely wasteful, with the capital taking an estimated loss of NT$30 billion (US$943.8 million) when dike construction costs are subtracted from estimates of profits the area’s development would generate.
Ko said that giving each of the peninsula’s 10,000 residents a check for NT$3 million, instead of developing the peninsula, would be a more effective way to spend taxpayers’ money.
Ko’s remarks attracted criticism from city councilors representing the peninsula.
“Ko has sent the Shezidao development plan to the emergency room,” Taipei City Councilor Ho Chih-wei (何志偉) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said.
Ho represents the Shilin and Beitou (北投) districts, which include Shezidao.
After meeting with Ko yesterday, he criticized the mayor’s “random” remarks for “breaking the hearts” of area residents and expressed concern over whether the new plans would be workable, adding that the new plans remain too abstract to evaluate.
Taipei City Government spokesman Sidney Lin (林鶴明) said the mayor’s remarks about writing residents a check was a metaphor meant to illustrate the wasteful nature of the current plan in a lighthearted manner, adding that Ko remains committed to the peninsula’s development.
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