A developer’s plan to build an ossuary near Shulin Elementary School in Taoyuan’s Dasi District (大溪) ran into opposition from local residents, who vowed to demonstrate against the plan at a company hearing scheduled for today.
Taoyuan City Councilor Yang Chao-wei (楊朝偉) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Thursday accused Diwang Development Ltd Co of being dishonest with local residents.
Yang said residents and a borough warden told him they were invited to a charity banquet for disadvantaged people by Diwang Development.
In the middle of the meal, a banner identifying the event as a charity banquet was replaced by another that read “construction publicity event,” he said.
The attendees thought the developers were trying to trick them into supporting the project, Yang said.
“Building an ossuary near the school would of course be controversial for the parents and borough residents. Diwang Development not only failed to explain its project, but also resorted to deception to hide its intentions. This is immoral,” he said.
The planned ossuary would be 195m from the school, which is less than the legal minimum distance of 300m, Taoyuan City Councilor Chen Chih-wen (陳治文) of the Democratic Progressive Party said, adding that she will lobby against the project at the city council.
A spokesman for Diwang Development, which was founded by the buddhist group Dadaofo Chengzong (大道佛乘宗), said the planned ossuary’s site is an informal cemetery with 262 unmarked graves, adding that the company is “trying to do right by the place.”
“We hope the residents will today respond to our briefing rationally so that we would have an opportunity to explain everything,” the spokesman said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS