The central environmental impact assessment (EIA) review committee on Friday examined the construction of an industrial park in Kaohsiung’s Dalinpu Village (大林蒲) amid calls for decoupling the relocation of local residents from the project.
The Dalinpu area is in the southwestern coastal side of Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港), mainly including the Dalinpu and Fengpitou (鳳鼻頭) communities.
The area has become gradually hemmed in since 1972 when the city’s Linhai Industrial Park (臨海工業園區) was established.
Photo courtesy of the Kaohsiung City Government
Local residents have long been affected by the noise and air pollution from surrounding oil refineries, power plants, steel mills and container terminals.
The Kaohsiung City Government in 2011 and 2016 surveyed the willingness of locals to relocate their residences.
On Aug. 3, 2017, then-premier Lin Chuan (林全) expressed support for the relocation, as up to 90 percent of locals were willing to move.
He asked the Ministry of Economic Affairs to coordinate funding for the relocation and obtain the land required in collaboration with agencies.
The ministry later proposed the construction project of a new material circulation industrial park in the region, which was approved by the Executive Yuan on Oct. 8, 2019.
The project includes the Dalinpu area as well as part of the reclaimed land allocated to the South Star Plan (南星計畫) — a development plan designed in 1980s to accommodate excavated soil for land reclamation in the city.
The ministry said the project would fund local residents’ relocation and shift the local industry from heavy manufacturing to a localized high-tech material supply chain.
Southern Anti-Air Pollution Alliance convenor Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀菊), who is also a local resident, said locals are “having meals with sand” as hundreds of dump trucks have been operating at the project site.
The dust problem might worsen as the 508 hectare land reclamation project around the Port of Kaohsiung is about to begin, she said, calling on the ministry to decouple the relocation from the project.
The relocation should be accelerated, Hung said, adding that residents of Dalinpu and Fengpitou dare not to open windows and doors at home due to dust pollution.
Concerns were raised by environmental advocates about the project’s health risk evaluation methods and loopholes for pollution, which would run contrary to the industrial park’s aim to establish a circular economy.
The city government said the relocation requires funding, which is part of the project.
“There is no fugitive dust,” it said.
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