The Control Yuan on Wednesday censured the Taitung County Government over its handling of the controversial Miramar Resort project in the county’s Beinan Township (卑南) and recommended criminal investigators to probe the case.
The Control Yuan report was presented by members Kao Yung-cheng (高涌誠), Jao Yung-ching (趙永清) and Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇), who visited the site numerous times, and conducted interviews with stakeholders and residents.
Taitung officials on Friday said the site of the project has been turned into a government-run beach and recreational park after the county in 2020 bought the project for NT$629 million (US$20.95 million at the current exchange rate) from Miramar Resort Hotel Co.
Photo: CNA
Construction for the resort began in 2005, and the main building was nearly complete in 2007, when a coalition of residents, environmental groups and academics filed a complaint saying that no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) had been carried out.
The hotel operator filed for arbitration in August 2018, asking for NT$1.219 billion from the county government.
Kao said that the county had been negligent when negotiating the buyout.
County officials might have colluded with the company, as the terms of the deal favored the former owner, Kao said.
Members of the arbitration panel had said the controversy was due to unforeseeable factors, Kao said
Previously, the county did not order an EIA and failed to enforce regulations during the construction, Kao added.
Tien said county officials likely covered up illegal actions.
The county did not object when the operator unilaterally expanded the construction plan from four to six stories and from 80 to 123 suites, Kao said.
Jao said protests and litigations by environmental groups and local residents have opened up a “Pandora’s box,” uncovering collusion and possibly profiteering on the part of government officials and firms involved in the project.
It is difficult to find the main culprit on the government side, as the project spanned five county commission terms, but it is evident that there has been an intimate relationship between the county government and the firms involved, Jao said.
The project caused harm to the environment at the beachside resort project, Jao added.
“The county government did not do exercise proper oversight and address breaches by the companies,” Jao said. “Officials were either negligent or avoided taking action. They deceived the public.”
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