Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) yesterday voiced regret over the Cabinet’s dismissal of the city’s proposal to hold a local referendum on state-run Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) plan to build Taiwan’s fourth liquefied natural gas terminal in the Waimushan (外木山) area.
Local governments should be given the authority to pursue their own environmental protection projects and fisheries affairs, and people should be given the right to vote in local referendums on such issues, he said.
Hsieh, of the of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), made the remark a day after the Protect Waimushan Action Group urged the Keelung City Government to appeal to the Judicial Yuan and the Legislative Yuan to contest the Cabinet’s dismissal.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Power Co
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) yesterday said that a referendum on such a project cannot be held on the local level, as it would fall under the central government’s purview.
However, the group vowed that it would continue to pursue its goal.
Keelung City Council Speaker Tung Tzu-wei (童子瑋) of the Democratic Progressive Party spoke out against a local referendum, saying it would turn the debate into a partisan affair.
The focus would not be on the original issue, Tung said.
Instead of seeking confrontation, all sides should engage in a dialogue on the future use of the oil-fired Hsieh-ho Power Plant, he said.
Turning it into a gas-powered facility, as planned by the operator, would help improve the air quality in the city, Tung added.
Keelung residents and the city government have the right to speak out against the project, but organizing a local referendum would not be the right way to do so, as the Constitution does not cover such votes, he said.
The Cabinet cited the Local Autonomy Act (地方自治法) when it dismissed Hsieh’s plan, Tung said, urging the city government to abide by the decision.
Taipower is planning to convert the 46-year-old Hsieh-ho Power Plant into a gas-powered facility after its operating license runs out and build a terminal to unload fuel for the plant nearby.
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
RSS