New Taipei City fishers vowed a “fight to the end” after Germany-based energy company EnerVest scheduled briefing sessions on its wind farm projects in the seas near Pengjia (彭佳嶼), Mianhua (棉花嶼) and Huaping (花瓶嶼) islets.
EnerVest’s publicity materials showed that it plans to build 520 turbines in three wind farms of about 1,000 square kilometers near the islets of Pengjia, Mianhua and Huaping.
Speaking at a local fishers’ association meeting in Wanli District (萬里), New Taipei City Councilor Pai Pei-ju (白珮茹) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Tuesday slammed EnerVest, saying that the company’s low-key announcements all but ambushed her constituents.
EnerVest planned to hold briefing sessions in Jinshan (金山) and Wangli (萬里) districts, but gave little notice, Pai said, adding that she did not learn of the dates until her staffers pressed the company’s representatives.
“They only told me that the events were tentatively set for December,” she said. “This looks like they are deliberately obstructing and keeping the people’s representatives in the dark.”
Her intent is to ensure the transparency of information and full participation of the public, not whether local residents approve the wind farms, Pai said.
The fisheries near the three islets are rich in squid, roe-bearing flying fish, belt fish and crabs, Wanli fishers’ association president Lien Tsung-ming (練聰明) and Jinshang fishers’ association president Hsu Kuo-liang (許國亮) said.
Trawling, crab caging and restaurants would all be affected if the wind farms disrupted the fisheries, they said.
Rueifang fishers’ association president Huang Chih-ming (黃志明) said that the 1km gap between turbines would present a navigational hazard for boats, while low-frequency noise pollution might affect the migrant birds of Jinshang and Huaping Islet.
In November, Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said that he was opposed to the wind farms and urged New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) to listen to his city’s residents.
New Taipei Fisheries and Fishing Port Management Office Director Chang Li-chen (張麗珍) said that EnerVest and not the central government was responsible for choosing the sites, and that the city government would pass the residents’ opinions to the central government.
“We hope our residents will go to the briefing sessions and we absolutely will do all that we can to help fishers,” she said.
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
Measures have been taken to minimize damage from Chinese espionage, the Ministry of National Defense said on Monday, in response to an alleged plan to deliver a Chinook helicopter to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The Chinese-language CTWANT magazine earlier in the day reported that a lieutenant colonel surnamed Hsieh (謝) was approached by Chinese officers with an offer to evacuate his family to Thailand in the event of a cross-strait conflict. In exchange, Hsieh was asked to fly a CH-47F Chinook helicopter to a Chinese aircraft carrier in the Taiwan Strait, the magazine said. Hsieh initially declined, but accepted after he was
STABILITY AND CHANGE: Flagging in recent polls, Ko this week pledged to maintain President Tsai’s foreign policy, with an emphasis on improving China relations Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday reiterated that he is “deep-green at heart” in response to accusations that he is pivoting his campaign to align closer with the ideology of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the face of flagging polls. Ko made the remark at an agricultural policy conference in Taipei, repeating his comments from an interview with CTS News a day earlier. Ko told the CTS host that he would continue to pursue President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national defense and foreign policy in general, but with an emphasis on establishing a rapport with
CHINA illness surge: Of 88 travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau with respiratory symptoms who were encouraged to get tested upon arrival, 70.6% had the flu Two hundred and sixty people with COVID-19 were hospitalized and 31 deaths related to the virus were reported last week — the highest numbers in four weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that cases are expected to peak next month. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said that of the 260 people hospitalized last week with moderate to severe COVID-19, 98 percent had not received the Omicron XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine. Among the people hospitalized this year, 78 percent were aged 65 or older, while most of the those who were hospitalized or died have or had
RSS