Environmental groups today submitted a petition to the Executive Yuan calling on the government to stop tax relief and subsidy programs incentivizing the construction of garbage incinerators.
The Ministry of Environment (MOENV) has allowed government agencies of all levels that operate incinerators to apply the Act for Promotion of Private Participation in Infrastructure Projects (促進民間參與公共建設法) and receive five-year tax exemptions, plus further tax reductions and subsidies.
The groups called upon the Ministry of Finance and the MOENV to amend the act and further revise the definition of “major public infrastructure projects.”
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
The Executive Yuan said that it has heard the request and would arrange for the MOENV and related agencies to review the matter.
Incineration and waste burial costs should be borne by waste producers and based on the amount of waste they generate, Taiwan Watch Institute secretary-general Herlin Hsieh (謝和霖) said, calling the current tax scheme unfair and unjust.
Changhua County already has nine incinerators, yet developers continue to propose new incinerators and landfill sites, with the county processing more industrial waste than it produces, Changhua Environmental Protection Union researcher Lin Cheng-han (林政翰) said.
Profit-hungry developers are using government subsidies and tax relief programs funded by taxpayers' money, while the public suffers from the resulting pollution, he added, calling for an immediate end to the policy.
The Executive Yuan’s Department of Transportation, Environment and Natural Resources accepted the petition.
The groups and the government share the same goal of addressing waste issues, and their demands have been heard, department Deputy Director Huang Chih-yuan (黃志元) said.
The petition would be forwarded to the MOENV and relevant agencies, which would work to review the petition and resolve waste disposal issues, he added.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS