A meeting planned for today between Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) and an environmental group campaigning for a referendum against a planned liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal has been canceled, the organization said yesterday.
The Rescue Datan’s Algal Reefs Alliance launched the campaign last year in response to the planned LNG terminal to be built off the coast of Datan Borough (大潭) in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音).
The government has sought talks with the alliance after its campaign generated enough signatures to proceed to the next stage of the referendum process.
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
Amid speculation that the planned meeting could be an attempt by the government to appease the group and have it withdraw the campaign, the alliance yesterday morning said that it would cancel the meeting with Chen.
It said that the alliance would be busy reviewing signature submissions to send to the Central Election Committee before the deadline on Wednesday next week.
As of Friday, it has collected more than 500,000 signatures — exceeding the threshold of 289,667 required by the committee to move to the second stage of the referendum process.
In another statement issued later, the alliance said it would consider a meeting with Chen “at an appropriate time,” as the planned meeting was hastily put together, leaving members little time to hold internal discussions.
Chen said the government respected the group’s decision, and that its door remains open.
The government respects the need to protect the reef, but was considering other concerns, such as the nation’s plan to become nuclear-free by 2025, as well as the need to reduce emissions from coal-fired plants and improve air quality, he said, adding that it strives to address all of these concerns.
“We want to have frank and open discussions on these issues. After all, we all want Taiwan to have a sustainable environment,” he said. “If we can sit down and talk, I am sure we can come up with a solution that works for everyone,” he said.
Meanwhile, advocate Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) — who had acted as an intermediary between the alliance and the government — yesterday said that he would withdrew from the alliance’s referendum task force, citing a difference of opinion among alliance members.
“This would have been the ideal time to meet with the government. It would be pointless for the alliance to wait until the referendum application is completed to talk with the government,” he said.
The idea of promoting a referendum to save the algal reefs, as well as meeting with Chen to discuss it, were both his own ideas, Ho said, adding that he was saddened to see the alliance cancel the meeting.
Additional reporting by Lo Chi
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