Proposed hearing procedures for the Taoyuan Aerotropolis development project have procedural flaws that threaten their validity, several legal academics said yesterday.
The Taoyuan Aerotropolis project is the nation’s largest ever urban planning project, encompassing 3,155 hectares as part of a proposal to add a third runway to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and to develop the surrounding area.
Plans for massive land appropriation have made the project controversial, with critics saying they could jeopardize the rights of small land owners.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to hold hearings focusing on the runway expansion next month and in May, while the Taoyuan City Government would hold parallel hearings on land development plans.
Chen Li-fu (陳立夫), a professor of land economics at National Chengchi University, questioned the efficacy of the ministry hosting the hearings, as it is not directly responsible for land appropriation for the project.
“The legislative intent [of the Administrative Procedure Act (行政程序法)] is clearly that the agency which is responsible for making decisions should be the one to hold hearings. However, it is the Ministry of Transportation and Communications that will be holding hearings on the Taoyuan Aerotropolis project, even though the agency responsible for deciding land appropriations is the Ministry of the Interior,” he said.
Chen expressed doubt whether the hearings would be able to incorporate residents’ opinions into the decisionmaking process.
He also questioned whether notifications for the hearings had reached the standards required by residents’ “right to be informed,” with a knowledge of how their interests might be affected so that they could fully exercise their rights.
“Notifications to attend the hearings in reality do not mention the plans or content for land expropriation,” he said.
Tai Hsiu-hsiung (戴秀雄), a professor of land economics at National Chengchi University, said the detailed, technical nature of urban planning makes it difficult to curb urban planners’ broad discretion by forcing them to include residents’ views.
“You cannot legislate exactly where a road should be built,” he said, adding that while legislation could force the government to hold additional hearings, residents have limited tools other than litigation to ensure their views are taken into consideration.
The forum was hosted by the National Taiwan University College of Law’s Public Law Research Center, the Environmental Jurists Association, Taiwan Association of Human Rights and several academic and civic organizations.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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