Profile: City council candidate Wang Chung-ming

Profile: City council candidate Wang Chung-ming
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2014/11/12/2003604220

By Ho Yi  /  Taipei Times Staff reporter

Environmentalist. Anti-nuclear proponent. Openly gay. The profile of Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘) reads like a description of a real liberal. But that didn’t get him elected when the political hopeful first ran for the office of the city council in New Taipei City as a nominee of the Green Party Taiwan (GPT) in 2010.

“Four years ago, we told everybody that we were young, full of ideas and passion. And that we wanted to bring about real changes. But it was just empty talk,” the 35-year-old Wang says.

Real changes do not come from championing ideas, as the candidate has learned. A textbook-perfect political platform on environmental protection, sustainability and social justice will remain empty if it lacks knowledge gained from experiencing local ways of life.

Having spent the past four years getting to know locals, Wang decided to join the Nov. 29 nine-in-one elections this year and run for the 1st constituency in New Taipei City, which comprises the Shihmen (石門), Sanjhih (三芝), Bali (八里) and Tamsui (淡水) districts, for the second time.

FROM SLOGAN TO ACTION

Wang’s political enlightenment began in 2006 when he and several other bloggers and internet pundits helped out with the election campaign for the Green Party candidates for the office of city council. The fact that what he deemed a “very successful public relations campaign” didn’t get the candidates anywhere near the public office led Wang to conclude that cyber advocacy, as powerful as it may appear, doesn’t necessarily translate into votes. Shortly after, the then-art magazine editor joined the GPT.

In 2010, Wang was among the party’s five nominees to run for city council in Taipei. Agriculture appears at the highest level on his political agenda, and the environmental activist/novice candidate frequently took part in sit-ins and street demonstrations against several high-profile construction projects, including the Suhua Freeway (蘇花高速公路) and Tambei Expressway (淡北道路, Tamsui-Taipei Expressway). However, his street activism also drew criticism from fellow activists and NGO workers who thought that by concentrating only on issue-advocacy campaigns, Wang overlooked the importance of working with local residents and groups to gain a deeper understanding of their issues.

For the past four years, grassroots outreach has been a top priority for Wang, who says that after the 2010 election, residents in his constituency would often come to him, for problems ranging from disputes over tree-cutting to the preservation of an old street.

In 2012, Wang worked with local residents to organize the ongoing campaign against the Construction and Planning Agency’s proposed phase-II development of Tamhai New Town (淡海新市鎮) in Tamsui, which plans to seize about 1,200 hectares of land, with most of the targeted area being farmland, forcing more than 1,600 households to relocate. The experiences with grassroots organizing, handling bureaucracies and influencing policy process have helped Wang to break out of the realm of ideas and enter the real world.

“Before, I didn’t know how to make my way into the countryside. The case of Tamhai New Town has helped me to develop a support base in the suburban areas of Tamsui. With the locals, it is all about emotional bonding. If you help them, they will support you no matter what,” he says.

INTO THE PROVINCES

With its progressive political views and platform, the GPT has often been criticized for being unrealistic and appealing to a limited demographic that is mostly urban, highly educated and information-savvy. The result of Wang’s 2010 election clearly reflects the tendency. Out of the 8,321 votes Wang received, more than 7,000 came from Tamsui, the most urban among the four districts. According to Wang’s own analysis, he received a 5 to 10 percent average voting ratio in urban commercial districts. In smaller communities mainly consisting of old residential apartment buildings, the voting ratio is 5 percent. In rural areas, the figure drops to 2 to 3 percent, and sometimes less than 1.

Wang has discovered that attending local religious event is an important way to meet community leaders, whether it is during deity statues’ “inspection tours” (繞境), traditional pudu (普渡) ceremonies or temple festivities such as bandoh (辦桌), a type of Taiwanese outdoor banquet.

“When there is a temple pilgrimage or bandoh, I am there, shaking hands and introducing myself,” he says.

Door-knocking is another way to reach out — Wang has trekked through numerous villages, rural communities and hamlets, visiting one household at a time.

“In the city, we can probably reach out to 100 people in 10 minutes by making a public speech and handing out flyers,” the candidate said. “In the countryside, I ride my bike for an hour, and there are only 20 households along the roadside. It takes a lot more time. But it allows me to not only meet with local residents but learn about their communities and what they think.”

The visits have helped Wang and his team to gain a better understanding of the various cultures, environments and sociopolitical compositions in different areas. Take Shihmen for example — though Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant is located there, anti-nuclear activists have had limited luck in garnering support from local residents. This is because it is a relatively affluent area where inhabitants are mostly seniors, as the majority of youth have moved out for work. Residents in Bali, on the other hand, have many things to complain about regarding their polluted environment, which Wang addresses on his political agenda.

Chatting with locals brings knowledge about their lives, and it can help the GPT gradually break its limits as an urban political party, Wang says.

Meanwhile, Wang’s anti-development stance has inevitably created a lot of enemies. When he successfully helped to nullify an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the proposed Tamsui-Taipei expressway construction project last year, many were furious, accusing him of being autocratic.

“I can understand people’s anger and frustration. It is exactly how we feel when the government does something which we believe is wrong,” Wang reflects.

He adds, “Dealing with emotions is much harder than participating in the debate about ideas. Part of a politician’s job is to communicate with people. And that is something I need to put more effort into.”

Public needs to keep up pressure on governments

Public needs to keep up pressure on governments 

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2014/09/22/2003600279 
By Wang Chung-ming 王鐘銘
Translated by Julian Clegg

The Executive Yuan is adjusting its national regional plan and the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) is working on amendments to the Enforcement Rules for the Regional Plan Act (區域計畫法施行細則).

The authorities have made several attempts to consult with civic groups to reduce conflicts, but these matters have run up against the same problem: While the central government wants to devolve some of its powers and responsibilities to local governments, the local authorities do not enjoy people’s trust.

The Ministry of the Interior wants counties and municipalities to operate their own regional planning committees, and the EPA wants them to do a proper job of conducting environmental impact assessments. Environmental groups are worried that development projects will not be examined properly and that they will get pushed through due to vested interests.

Two examples, one positive and one negative, can show why such worries exist.

The controversy over environmental impact assessments for the Miramar Resort on the Taitung County coast has dragged on for 10 years with no resolution because the Taitung County Government’s assessments have not been done in accordance with the law. To begin with, the county government helped the resort’s developers evade an assessment. However, eventually, an assessment became unavoidable. Since then, there have been seven assessments, but none has been conducted legitimately.

The other example is that of the expansion of the Hsinchu Science Park using land in Miaoli County’s Houlong Township (後龍), which was rejected by the ministry’s Construction and Planning Agency in the face of protests by Wanbao Borough (灣寶) farmers. This is a rare example of a successful campaign against land expropriation.

Another reason for this success was that the department in charge of examining the expansion plan was the ministry’s Regional Planning Commission. If the Miaoli County Government comes to have a regional planning commission of its own, it is doubtful whether fertile farmland like that of Wanbao will continue to be preserved.

Part of the reason why the ministry and the EPA want to hand over some of their powers and responsibilities is that they often face protests and even administrative lawsuits, yet instead of tackling the underlying problems, they prefer to skirt around them. Civic groups are obviously not willing to let them get away with that.

At the same time, civic groups must admit that we cannot go on forever expecting the central government to be the arbiter of justice, sending its agents to receive local residents’ petitions and handle disputes.

There are two key reasons why people do not trust local governments. The first is a lack of information transparency and public participation in all kinds of procedures, and the second is the lack of effective checks and balances in interactions between executive and legislative departments, which results in a monolithic approach to policy decisions. The former reason represents a lack of participatory democracy, while the latter results from neglect of duty in a representative democracy.

Both these problems require the public to keep challenging the government to reform the system, to educate executive departments so that they will come to carry out procedures more smoothly.

Nationwide local elections will be held on Nov. 29. Are the above-mentioned expectations being raised as an electoral issue? Does sufficient pressure exist to make these changes happen? If these concerns are still not raised, the ministry and the EPA will have to go on acting as the last lines of defense.

Poll finds 82 percent think housing prices too high

Poll finds 82 percent think housing prices too high
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/06/10/2003592423

Staff writer, with CNA

A housing policy survey recently conducted by the Want Want China Times Poll Center among adults in Taipei, New Taipei City, Greater Taichung and Greater Kaohsiung showed that 82 percent of the respondents think housing prices are unreasonable in comparison with their incomes.

Among the age groups polled, 30-to-39-year-olds were found to be the most dissatisfied with housing prices, with 91 percent complaining that prices are unreasonably high.

Despite the discontent expressed, 69.4 percent of those surveyed listed owning a home as one of their goals in life.

However, 63.6 percent said they could never afford to buy one in an urban area, according to the survey, which collected 2,447 valid samples from telephone interviews which took place between May 12 and May 14.

“Using a real-estate purchase as the core financial management strategy for life will cause significant damage to the nation and society,” said Hua Ching-chun (花敬群), an associate professor at Takming University of Science and Technology.

A good housing policy should make helping the socially disadvantaged the top priority, Hua added, suggesting that the government provide sufficient social housing and take measures to solidify the rental market.

An article published by the Chinese-language China Times yesterday concerning equality in Taiwan featured the failure of the 1990-2014 Danhai New Town (淡海新市鎮) development project in New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) along the northern coast of Taiwan.

The project was aimed at “building housing units for mid and low-income households,” and “resolving the housing problem in the Greater Taipei area,” while “suppressing land prices,” in response to protests about a lack of affordable housing in metropolitan areas and rising house prices.

Danhai New Town was designed to accommodate 300,000 people on 1,756 hectares. However in the past 25 years, the town has had an occupancy rate of less than 10 percent.

Pointing to a group of more than 600 public housing units situated further along the coast, Danhai New Town resident Lu Cheng-chung (盧正忠) said that basically, the project was a failure.

“Those in the middle and lower income brackets cannot afford to commute [between the remote town and the city in which they work], Tamsui resident Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘) said.

Also, no manufacturing industries want to move to the coast, while many local light industry businesses have been forced to move out due to the government’s land requisition policies and restrictions that prevent industries from expanding, he added.

Urban Reform Promotion Organization secretary-general Peng Yang-kae (彭揚凱) said the government’s housing policy is either encouraging people to buy homes or build cheap public housing.

However, history shows “no one wants to live in a remote area,” Peng said.

As for public housing built in urban areas, he pointed out, the quantity is too small to suppress rising housing prices. The chance of finding this kind of affordable accommodation through the drawing of lots is the same as winning the lottery, Peng said.

Government 'misleading' public over nuclear policy

Government 'misleading' public over nuclear policy
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/05/08/2003589843

By Tang Chia-ling and Lo Chien-yi  /  Staff reporters

Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) application to the Atomic Energy Council to extend the lifespan of the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant shows that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) promise not to extend the life of the three operating nuclear power plants is just another broken promise, a lawmaker and antinuclear activists said yesterday.

The criticism came as Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) and a section head from the council’s Nuclear Regulation Department, Chang Shin (張欣), appeared before the legislature’s Economics Committee yesterday.

Chang Shin told lawmakers that Taipower has approached the council about its application to extend the life of the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門) and was asked to submit additional data.

Asked if such a review went against Ma’s promise not to extend the lifespan of the three operating plants, Chang Shin said: “Energy policies are made by energy-related agencies, and the Atomic Energy Council is in charge of monitoring nuclear safety. Taipower postponed its operation extension application [made in 2009] on its own, so it has the right to resume it.”

During a press conference on energy policy on Nov. 3, 2011, Ma said that Taiwan would steadily move toward the goal of reducing nuclear power and would not extend the lifespan of the three operating nuclear plants.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) said that as the Jinshan plant’s spent fuel pool is almost at full capacity, extending its lifespan would be neglecting the life and property of the more than 7 million people who live in the Greater Taipei area.

Cheng said the Executive Yuan has previously claimed that several countries have found final repositories for their high-level radioactive wastes, including spent nuclear fuel, but very few countries have finalized their decisions.

Even if they have finalized their decisions, it would be impossible for them to accept Taiwan’s spent nuclear fuel, she said.

Only Sweden and Finland are still planning to establish nuclear waste final repositories, but Finland’s laws stipulate that “nuclear wastes that are not domestically produced shall not be handled, stored or permanently disposed of in Finland,” she said.

There is not a township in Taiwan that is willing to accept nuclear waste and the government is lying to the public with its claims of “international cooperation” and “treatment across national boundaries,” she said.

Taipower chief nuclear energy engineer Chai Fu-feng (蔡富豐) said that although Finland’s final repository for high-level radioactive wastes in Olkiluoto Island, Eurajoki cannot accept Taiwan’s raw spent nuclear fuel, there are still many possibilities for Taiwan’s high-level radioactive waste treatment after processing in the future.

The International Atomic Energy Agency encourages international cooperation in dealing with nuclear waste, although no specific plan has been reached, he said.

Meanwhile, Green Citizen Action Alliance deputy secretary-general Hung Shen-han (洪申翰) said trying to extend the lifespan of the three plants “is the Ma government’s expression of pro-nuclear power and a completely regressive step.”

Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘), of the Northern Coast Anti-Nuclear Action Alliance, said the government is trying to use the extension of the three plants’ to hide that it lacks the ability to decommission the plants or deal with nuclear waste.

Antinuclear action to continue: groups

Antinuclear action to continue: groups
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/05/01/2003589310/1

NO MORE TALKS:An antinuclear protest group member said the groups would not continue talks begun last year with the Executive Yuan because of a lack of progress

By Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

Antinuclear groups said yesterday the platform for communicating with the Executive Yuan — established last year for discussing the treatment of nuclear waste — is a failed mechanism and that they would no longer attend meetings because the government has no intention or ability to deal with the issue.

More than a dozen people from the groups made the announcement yesterday afternoon in front of the Executive Yuan’s front gate, which was fenced with barbed wire barricades and protected by a line of police holding shields and batons.

The groups came to an agreement with Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) in April last year to form a communication platform to discuss issues concerning the treatment of nuclear waste.

After Jiang on Monday morning announced a halt to construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) said on the same day that a postponement to the retirement of the three operating nuclear power plants would be discussed.

Northern Coast Anti-Nuclear Action Alliance executive committee member Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘) said the groups would stop communicating with the government through the mechanism because the government has made no progress over the past year.

He said they had urged for low-level radioactive waste to be removed from the storage facility in Lanyu (蘭嶼) as its lease had expired, civic participation in deciding on locations for spent nuclear fuel dry cask storage facilities, no extension on the lifespan of currently operating nuclear power plants and no construction of a nuclear waste depository in eastern Taiwan, where less electricity is used.

“[The Executive Yuan] is incapable of dealing with nuclear waste, stalling and not doing anything,” the groups chanted outside the Executive Yuan.

Tao Foundation (蘭嶼部落文化基金會) secretary-general Sinan Mavivo said: “I have been dumb enough to believe the government when it promised to move the waste away ... but our hope has turned into despair.”

“We’re fed up,” Green Citizen Action Alliance deputy secretary-general Hung Shen-han (洪申翰) said. “After one year, the government still has no plan to meet our demands, and even said it needs more time to study the issue, but local residents just want to feel safe when they sleep.”

“If the government is incapable of solving the nuclear waste problems, then why extend the lifespan of nuclear power plants and create more nuclear waste?” Hung asked.

Northern Coast Anti-Nuclear Action Alliance chief executive Kuo Ching-lin (郭慶霖) said: “When we use nuclear fuel rods for five years, the toxic danger threatens future generations for hundreds of thousands of years, so why does anyone want to use nuclear power?”

He said that since he was a child, the plants have been constructed, and for the past few decades, the groups have been trying different ways to convince the government of the danger.

Nuclear policy is being controlled by certain groups who benefit from it, “but the government never listens to us,” Kuo said.

Dumping envelopes filled with documents from various meetings with government agencies from his bag, Kuo said people have called him irrational for participating in antinuclear social movements, such as occupying Zhongxiao W Road on Sunday.

“It is because efforts made through the legal system and during countless meetings were all neglected,” he said.

“A few days ago, my daughter said she has not eaten a meal cooked by me for a long time,” Kuo said, adding that its not that they like being busy and protesting all the time, but they are fighting for the safety of the public against the government, which is forcing legislators to back up its policies.

He said the government is creating division and hatred among people by stigmatizing antinuclear protesters by calling them “hijackers.”

The groups said they will continue to fight against nuclear power at the local level in various ways in their hometowns.

Groups urge public to abolish nuclear power this year

Groups urge public to abolish nuclear power this year
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/02/24/2003584215

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter / Taipei Times Staff reporters

This year will be the most crucial year in the fight to abolish nuclear power in Taiwan, anti-nuclear groups said at a forum in Taipei yesterday, citing reasons that included the possible insertion of fuel rods in the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮).

“Other reasons are that since the [three] active nuclear plants are fast approaching their planned retirement dates and the government is always stalling on its promises to decommission the plants, the problem of nuclear waste treatment could become a tipping point this year,” Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘), a member of the Northern Coast Anti-Nuclear Action Alliance’s executive committee, told the forum hosted by the National Nuclear Abolition Action Platform.

Wang said activists fear the government may try to extend the active plants’ operational life span.

He said that Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) has already extended the original capacity of the spent fuel pools at the three active plants by increasing storage density. The capacity of the pool at the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門) was extended from 3,030 bundles to 5,514, while the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) had its 5,040-bundle capacity pool raised to 7,544 and the pool at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Ma-anshan (馬鞍山) went from handling 1,492 bundles to 2,328.

On Saturday, Taipower announced that the spent fuel pool at the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant will meet its storage capacity at the end of the year, so it urgently needs the government to approve its plan to build a dry-storage facility.

However, Wang said that Taipower is merely trying to force the government and the public to approve the dry-storage facility.

He added that dry cask storage of spent fuel is not only controversial, because the feasibility of taking spent fuel rods from the pools are a safety concern, but also that it is doubtful that the proposed facility — which is meant to be used for mid-term storage — will not eventually be made into a final disposal site, given that Taipower has broken its promises many times in the past.

“Taipower bounced its checks on removing low-level radioactive waste from Lanyu (蘭嶼), which was originally planned for 2002, then extended to 2016 and last year once again pushed back to 2021,” Wang said. “If Taipower cannot deal with low-level radioactive waste disposal, how can we trust it to properly deal with spent nuclear fuel?”

Green Citizens’ Action Alliance director-general Lai Wei-chieh (賴偉傑) said it is frustrating to see how the government “threatens the public and shirks its responsibility” to continue using nuclear power, rather than developing alternative energy policies.

Lai said anti-nuclear groups are worried that fuel rods will be inserted at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant as part of test runs during the safety inspections currently being conducted by the Atomic Energy Council that Taipower has said will be completed by June.

Moreover, even though the council has not approved Taipower’s ultimate response measures, the company and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) have already promised the public that a nuclear disaster can be prevented in the event of an emergency situation, Lai said.

“The government should devise institutional electricity-saving measures, such as dispersing electricity demand during peak hours, or improving power usage effectiveness, rather than morally pressuring the public to save electricity,” he said.

The groups urged the public to attend a parade set for March 8 to promote the “total abolition of nuclear power, face the problems of nuclear waste, terminate the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and created a nuclear-free homeland.”

Premier pledges to act on environment

Premier pledges to act on environment http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/11/30/2003578004 
By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Lee I-chia / Taipei Times Staff reporters

A much-talked-about documentary depicting how the nation’s environment has been ravaged prompted Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) to demand that Cabinet officials “take an iron fist” to environmental problems, Executive Yuan Deputy Secretary-General Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) said yesterday.

Chien told a press conference following an intergovernmental meeting that Jiang has ordered Cabinet members to carry through “forcefully” policies that have become necessary because environmental preservation is a task that “allows for no delay.”

The Cabinet yesterday held the first meeting of an ad hoc task force led by Chien and attended by vice heads of related government branches.

Jiang ordered the establishment of the task force after he attended a screening of the film Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above (看見台灣) by Chi Po-lin (齊柏林) that documents Taiwan by using aerial photography.

Government agencies were divided into five teams to work on 16 major national conservation issues exposed by the documentary and will present an initial report to Jiang in one month, Chien said.

Among the issues were illegal mining of gravel and sand, sediments in water reservoirs, land subsidence induced by pumping excessive underground water, excessive hillside development and river pollution, he said.

The task force categorized the 16 issues into four topics — mining of sand and gravel, management of coasts and hillsides, environmental quality and development in sensitive areas — with government branches related to each of the topics being assembled in a group to work on the issues, Chien said.

The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior were in the fifth group, charged with ensuring necessary enforcement measures take place to crack down on illegal activities that damage the environment, he added.

The task force will meet every two weeks to draft short, medium and long-term solutions to environmental problems, Chien said.

“We will take a holistic approach and not just focus on the 16 problems,” he added.

Earlier yesterday about a dozen representatives from environmental groups protested outside the Executive Yuan and accused the government of continuing environmental destruction.

The film shows how state land is being excessively developed, and the damage caused by illegal gravel mining or inappropriate land use, but the Cabinet is still trying to amend laws that would loosen restrictions on development in reservoir water catchment areas, the protesters said.

Taiwan Environmental Protection Union founding chairman Shih Hsin-min (施信民) said that if the government really watches the film and “sees Taiwan” (the literal translation of the film’s Chinese name), it would cancel the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, retire nuclear plants currently in operation, stop destroying high-quality farmland and stop any development in water catchment areas, among other measures.

Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘), spokesman for a self-help group against land expropriation for the Danhai New Town phase-two project, said the vacancy rate is already very high in the new town’s phase-one area, yet the government still wants to develop the 1,168-hectare second-phase area that will include 871 hectares of farmland or forest land, “which will destroy natural ecology and human rights.”

Environmentalists hail ‘Tambei’ ruling

Taipei Times
Environmentalists hail 'Tambei' ruling
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/09/05/2003571385/2

ROAD RAGE:Local residents and environmentalists vigorously oppose the Tambei Expressway project, as it would encroach on the Mangrove Forest Preservation Area

By Jason Pan  /  Staff writer, with CNA

Environmental groups yesterday hailed as an important victory a decision by the Taipei High Administrative Court rejecting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the proposed Tamsui-Taipei expressway construction project in New Taipei City (新北市).

Although the ruling can still be appealed, environmental activists were happy with the court’s decision and called on the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to withdraw the EIA and not appeal.

The New Taipei City Government had proposed building a "Tambei Expressway" (淡北道路 Tamsui-Taipei Expressway) along the eastern shore of the Tamsui River.

At present, Highway No. 2 is the only major artery linking Taipei to New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) and the northeast coastal area. It is clogged with heavy traffic on weekday rush hours, as well as on weekends and holidays.

The road runs along the narrow Zhuwei Corridor (竹圍走廊), which is geographically confined by the Tamsui River to the west and the Tatun Mountains to the east. The Taipei MRT Tamsui Line runs in this corridor, from Zhuwei MRT Station northward to Tamsui MRT Station.

Local residents and environmentalists vigorously opposed the expressway project, as it would encroach on the nearby Mangrove Forest Preservation Area.

After the EPA convened meetings to evaluate the project’s environmental impact, the EIA committee announced its conditional approval for the expressway in July 2011.

However, local residents Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘) and Chen Fu-chi (陳福齊) organized a petition in August of that year seeking to nullify the EIA report on the grounds the project would negatively impact an important and sensitive natural environment and therefore it required a second-stage EIA.

However, the Executive Yuan’s Petitions and Appeals Committee rejected their petition in February last year.

Wang and members of the Green Party Taiwan filed a lawsuit with the Taipei High Administrative Court in April last year.

Local residents called yesterday’s decision a major victory.

"We hope every EIA case in the future can be evaluated and scrutinized in a thorough and prudent manner. It must be done with participation and input by local residents to protect their natural environment," Wang said.

Other residents were delighted with the decision, saying justice had been served, but New Taipei City Councilor Tsai Chin-hsien (蔡錦賢) was disappointed.

"We have wasted three or four years already. With the construction set to start, the court decision has negated years of effort by many people," Tsai said.

"The court did not respect the wishes of local residents. It is an unreasonable ruling, as the court does not understand the suffering of local residents due to frequent traffic jams," the independent councilor added.

EPA Department of Comprehensive Planning head Yeh Chun-hung (葉俊宏) said his office would study the court judgement and would appeal if there is a possibility of overturning the decision.

He said the EPA could return to a first-stage EIA or go into second-stage EIA, pending its appraisal of the judgement.

Meanwhile, Taipei City Government spokesman Chang Chi-chiang (張其強) said the city government respected the court ruling and would not begin construction unless the project passes an EIA.

The New Taipei City Government, on the other hand, said it would continue construction and would provide the EPA with more information as a basis for a second-stage EIA.

Additional reporting by Lai Hsiao-tung and Wu Liang-yi

Groups protest Soil and Water Act amendment

Groups protest Soil and Water Act amendment
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/08/17/2003569911

SLIPPERY SLOPEIf the amendment is passed, about 1.72 million hectares of reservoir catchment area would be opened for development, the groups said

By Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

Several environmental organizations yesterday filed a petition with the Control Yuan, asking it to investigate the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau’s proposal to amend the Soil and Water Conservation Act (水土保持法), which would loosen the restrictions on development in reservoirs’ catchment areas.

Before submitting their appeal, the representatives from 40 civic groups held up photos of mudslide disasters and rivers filled with mud, and shouted slogans.

The act was passed in 1994, stipulating that all development activities are prohibited in designated special soil and water conservation areas within reservoir catchment areas.

The proposed amendment would reduce the development prohibited areas to areas that “need special conservation,” restricting the prohibited development activities from all types to only four, and granting local governments the authority to alter designated special soil and water conservation areas.

Groups fear the proposed amendment would put nearly all reservoir catchment areas at risk of pollution.

According to the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau’s statistics, there are more than 100 reservoirs in the country and the combined size of reservoir catchment areas is about 2.05 million hectares, accounting for about 78 percent of the nation’s mountainous areas.

If the amendment is passed, about 1.72 million hectares of reservoir catchment area would no longer be under the strict protection of being designated as soil and water conservation areas, the groups said.

Taiwan Water Conservation Alliance spokesperson Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said the proposed amendment will likely turn most of the reservoir catchment areas into ordinary hillside land, and development activities in these areas may threaten water quality and land safety.

Hsu Chan-shuan (徐嬋娟), who leads the Flood Management Watch, said that following a typhoon in 2006 that brought large amounts of mud into the Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) and caused residents in Taoyuan to be left without clean water for a number of days, lawmakers at the time swiftly passed budgets of NT$25 billion (US$832 million) for the Shihmen Reservoir and NT$116 billion for other easily flooded areas to improve water and soil conservation.

“However, if this amendment is passed these reservoirs will see further development activities and the government will have to spend even more money to make up for the disasters caused by them,” she said.

“The government should amend laws to protect the public, but the proposed amendment is in fact loosening laws,” Green Party Taiwan member Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘) said. “Basic needs, such as water and food, should not be sacrificed for economic benefits from development activities… and the government should not have to spend more money to make up for the destruction caused by disasters.”

Opening up areas for development means more trees will be cut down, resulting in landslides after heavy rain, Taiwan Tree Protection Alliance convener Chang An-chi (張安琪) said.

“The government needs to ensure people’s right to life. We want to drink clean water, not waste water,” she said, adding that companies that benefit from the development activities are unlikely to maintain a healthy balance between protecting the environment and maximizing their economic benefits, “while the public will have to endure the consequences of polluted water and a damaged environment.”

Government panned for nuclear waste decisions

Government panned for nuclear waste decisions
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/07/30/2003568511 
Tue, Jul 30, 2013
By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

Before meeting with Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) in Taipei yesterday afternoon, members of local civic groups living near nuclear waste storage sites said that they are dissatisfied with the government’s unilateral decisionmaking process and urged it to have real negotiations with the public.

The groups — from New Taipei City (新北市), Lanyu (蘭嶼, also known as Orchid Island), and Taitung and Pintung counties — said in front of the Executive Yuan that during their first meeting with Jiang on April 3, he promised to establish a negotiation forum comprised of government and civic representatives to discuss policies for final disposal of radioactive spent fuel.

However, Taitung Anti-Nuclear Alliance Secretary-General Su Ya-ting (蘇雅婷) said there were no communications regarding the forum for several months afterward, and when the alliance finally received a notice for yesterday’s meeting, its agenda had already been set.

“We feel as if the government has already decided the policies and we are only being asked to come and endorse their plans,” Su said, while showing a copy of the meeting agenda.

“Moreover, while Minister Without Portfolio Steven Chen (陳士魁) was assigned as the forum’s convener, he has been transferred to another position, leaving us even more concerned about whether the forum can really function,” she added.

Sinan Mavivo, secretary-general of the Tao Foundation, said people living in Lanyu are very concerned about the low-level nuclear waste which has been stored on the island since 1981, but the Ministry of Economic Affairs has kept delaying its removal and refused to reconvene its steering committee for the Lanyu storage site’s relocation.

“We ask the government, Taiwan Power Co and the ministry to remove the nuclear waste immediately,” she said. “We don’t need them to talk about formulating a new schedule for relocation and related inspections; we just ask them to remove it now.”

Green Party Taiwan member Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘) said the government has failed to finalize locations for building permanent nuclear waste repositories for the past seven years, but has kept using the matter as an excuse to postpone the promised removal of nuclear waste from Lanyu.

The party urged the government to decouple the two issues and deal with the Lanyu storage facility’s relocation immediately.

Northern Coast Anti-Nuclear Action Alliance chairperson Hsu Fu-hsiung (許富雄) said a dry cask storage facility for highly radioactive spent fuel waste from the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in Shihmen District (石門), New Taipei City (新北市), is due to go into testing next month, but the alliance fears that salt corrosion may cause radioactive leaks because the storage site is near the ocean.

Although Taipower has claimed the site is only for temporary storage, local residents are concerned that once spent fuel rods are placed in storage, there may be no likelihood of Taipower moving them to a final disposal site, Hsu said. He added that residents should be allowed to decide whether they want the facility in the area via a referendum.

“It is a fact that disposal of nuclear waste is an intractable problem in Taiwan, so we want to tell the government that while the problem remains unresolved, it shouldn’t allow nuclear power plants to operate, as they are adding to disposal problems,” Wang said.

Flash mobs protest Dapu demolitions

The Taipei Times: Flash mobs protest Dapu demolitions
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/07/20/2003567731
By Loa Iok-sin and Peng Chien-li / Staff reporters

Following the forced demolition of four houses in Miaoli County’s Dapu Borough (大埔) on Thursday, protesters have staged several flash-mob protests in Miaoli and Taipei.

Around a dozen protesters turned up in front of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship election campaign headquarters in Taipei a little before 8pm last night, and began throwing eggs at the building while chanting, “You tear down the Dapu houses today, we will tear down the government tomorrow!”

By the time police arrived on the scene the egg-throwing had ended. Nevertheless, two protesters, Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘) and Wu Hsueh-chan (吳學展), were detained and charged with violation of the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法).

The police declined to say whether they had evidence proving the two’s involvement in the egg-throwing protest.

The pair were still at the police station as of press time.

About half an hour before the protest, a larger crowd demonstrated outside the KMT headquarters in Taipei and clashed with police as they threw eggs at the building.

Meanwhile, in Miaoli, four protesters staged a surprise protest outside Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung’s (劉政鴻) residence in Houlong Township (後龍) early yesterday morning.

“Rise up against the tyranny of Liu Cheng-hung that tore down the Dapu houses, Taiwanese!” The four shouted as they carried five large cans of yellow and white paint while running toward Liu’s house after arriving on scooters at around 6:20am.

Security guards outside the house scuffled with the four in a bid to try to stop them, and paint was splashed on the ground.

Hearing the commotion, Liu looked down from a second-floor balcony, and called the protesters “shameless.”

The quartet were arrested and charged with damaging property.

Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷), a native of Miaoli and a National Tsing Hua University student who was one the protesters, said they wanted Liu to know what it was like to have his house threatened.

The other three protesters were National Taiwan University students.

On Thursday, after the forced demolition in the morning, farming activist Yang Ru-men (楊儒門) and long-time social activist Lee Chien-cheng (李建誠) were arrested at around 6:30pm for trying to throw paint at the Presidential Office in protest at the forced demolition.

Earlier yesterday, Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) was confronted by a group of students shouting, “You will be punished for breaking promises!” as he attended an award ceremony in Taipei.

Later, in response to media inquiries, Wu he said he was “surprised” by Thursday’s demolition, but insisted it was within the county government’s authority to handle the case.

“I was quite surprised by the county government’s move. However, the county government handled the incident in accordance with the law. How can we overstep our authority and interfere with local affairs?” he said.

Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih

Tree removal effort triggers clash

Tree removal effort triggers clash
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/06/22/2003565397

GREEN GUARDIANS:Activists tied themselves together in an attempt to stop workers from digging up trees on the campus of a New Taipei City school

By Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

Clashes broke out between “tree protection” volunteers and police at New Taipei Municipal Chiang-Tsui Junior High School yesterday morning after construction workers arrived to remove trees for a construction project on the campus.

The plan to remove 32 trees from the school to build a swimming pool and underground parking lot has been criticized strongly by nearby residents, teachers and environmentalists, who say the campus’ “sea of trees” is the only piece of green with trees in the neighborhood.

Twenty-six of the trees are to be moved to another park, while six would be replanted in the area after the construction work is completed.

“Tree protection” volunteers have been tree-sitting since March, after activists said construction workers were using what they considered inappropriate methods, including over-trimming, to remove the trees. Environmentalist Pan Han-chiang (潘翰疆) staged a sit-in in one of the trees for 12 days before being taken down by the police in late March.

Screaming and yelling was heard yesterday as several volunteers tried to block a truck from entering the campus by standing in front of it. Scuffles then broke out when volunteers who had tied themselves together to protect the trees were forcibly removed by police officers.

Shouting “Disrespect for judiciary, damaging the rule of law,” Green Party Taiwan members Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) and Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘), and a volunteer surnamed Chen (陳) were taken away by police for allegedly “committing malfeasance in office.”

The volunteers said removing the old trees in hot weather and in a rough manner could kill them.

Pan Han-chiang said one of eight trees that were removed earlier has died, while seven others were seriously damaged, which is why the volunteers were so determined to protect the remaining trees.

The New Taipei City’s (新北市) Public Works Department said in a press release that it was conducting the tree removal effort like “marrying off daughter” (嫁女兒) in an effort to improve the environment.

It said the operation was being conducted with the help of specialists.

It said it had reevaluated the tree removal plan to ensure appropriate protection measures were being taken, and that records would be kept during the process.

The plan is to finish the operation in five days and the public is welcome to oversee the process, the department said.

Police remove man from tree after 12 day protest

Police remove man from tree after 12 day protest
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/04/09/2003559187
By Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

After 12 days of “tree-sitting” by environmentalist Pan Han-chiang (潘翰疆) to protect trees at New Taipei City’s (新北市) Chiang-Tsui Junior High School, Pan was yesterday forcibly removed from the tree, while two other activists were taken into custody.

Pan climbed up a tree on March 28 in a bid to protect 32 trees scheduled for removal because of a municipal project to build a swimming pool and underground parking lot on the campus. Tree protection volunteers and Green Party Taiwan members took turns to support him.

The city government rejected the volunteers’ suggestion of reducing the number of trees to be removed and saving a large proportion of the construction budget by reducing what they said was unnecessary construction work.

After 268 hours in the tree, Pan was removed by police officers at about 11am yesterday and sent to hospital.

“I will use all my strength and will to the last minute to protect the ‘sea of trees’ and the community’s old memories with the goal of keeping the trees where they are now and stopping the inappropriate construction work,” Pan said last week.

Video clips showed that before the police reached Pan with an aerial ladder, two construction workers had climbed onto the tree and shaken the higher branches that Pan climbed onto, causing the volunteers to protest against actions that may have put Pan in danger.

Green Party Taiwan members Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘) and Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) were taken away by the police for questioning, because they were said to be violating the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法).

Other volunteers said they were only holding signs bearing protest messages.

Jiang meets anti-nuclear groups By Lee I-chia / Taipei Times Staff reporter

Jiang meets anti-nuclear groups
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/04/04/2003558763

NUCLEAR REACTION:Activists said that the premier is willing to communicate and listen, but also voiced concerns about a lack of explicit solutions for problems

By Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) yesterday met with representatives of anti-nuclear civic groups at the Executive Yuan and agreed that Lanyu (蘭嶼) — also known as Orchid Island — would not become a final disposal site for nuclear waste.

However, the groups said doubts remain on the Cabinet’s plans for dealing with nuclear waste.

Prior to the meeting with Jiang, Taiwan Environmental Protection Union Northern Coast Branch member Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘) said that before discussing nuclear issues and the fate of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮), “the premier should face the ‘victims’ of nuclear waste and tackle the unsolvable problem of nuclear waste treatment first.”

Of the eight representatives that met with Jiang yesterday, two were from Lanyu, where barrels of low-level radioactive waste have been stored since 1982; two from Taiwan’s northern coast area, where two operating nuclear power plants with spent fuel pools are located and a new plant is being constructed; one each from Taitung County and Pingtung County, which, respectively, have been eyed as a location for a final repository and where another operating plant is located; and two from anti-nuclear environmental protection groups.

“It took us 30 years to meet with the premier, so we want him to promise to deal with the problem of nuclear waste on the island [Lanyu], or we will not give up until it is removed,” Lanyu’s Tao Foundation secretary-general Sinan Mavivo said.

Mavivo said the foundation wanted waste to be moved immediately, a promise that Lanyu will not become a final repository site, and a resumption of activities by a repository relocation committee.

The representatives also urged the government to award “victims” living near nuclear power and nuclear waste facilities compensation, rather than the limited “cash reward” that is given to the districts.

They also want a promise that Article 31 of the Aboriginal Basic Act (原住民族基本法), which stipulates the government should not store toxic materials in Aboriginal regions against the wishes of the local populations, will not be violated.

After a two-hour meeting with Jiang, the groups said they accept that he is willing to communicate and listen to their requests, but although he promised to meet some of their demands, they are still concerned about the lack of a clear timetable and explicit solutions for problems.

They said Jiang also agreed not to make Lanyu a final repository site, to establish a relocation committee convened by a minister without portfolio, to reconsider and discuss changing the name of cash rewards to compensation, and to investigate any illegal activity in the decision-making process for construction of the nuclear waste dump, building dry storage for spent fuel or giving out cash rewards.

However, Wang said Jiang has still not promised when nuclear waste would be removed from Lanyu, and although he promised to look for a site to build the final repository, the groups are not convinced that he will strive to find an appropriate site and that nuclear waste issues would be resolved in the near future.

Activists take turns to occupy trees By Lee I-chia / Taipei Times Staff reporter

Activists take turns to occupy trees  
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/03/30/2003558368
By Lee I-chia  /  Taipei Times Staff reporter


Since Thursday morning, environmentalists and a retired high-school teacher have been taking turns sitting in and hugging trees at New Taipei Municipal Chiang-Tsui Junior High School, protesting against measures to remove 32 trees for a public construction project on the campus.

For the past six years, a proposed swimming pool and underground parking lot in an area with dozens of old trees on the campus in New Taipei City (新北市) has been a controversial issue, as a city councilor and the school’s president support the project, while many nearby residents, teachers and environmentalists are against the destruction of the “sea of trees.”

On Thursday morning, Pan Han-chiang (潘翰疆), head of a tree protection volunteer group, climbed into a banyan tree with Green Party Taiwan member and local resident Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘).

They remained there overnight in heavy rain, faced with police who were trying to remove them, but supported by local residents, who brought them food.

At 6am yesterday, a retired teacher from the school, Chen Tsai-luan (鄭彩鑾), climbed up the tree and took a turn “tree sitting” as Wang climbed down.

As of 7pm yesterday, Pan had been sitting in the tree for 37 hours.

The Green Party Taiwan said construction workers began to remove the trees on Tuesday, but were forced to stop by the city’s agriculture department for violating standards. The workers continued sawing down the trees on Wednesday, so the volunteers said they had no other option but to try and protect the 32 trees that are due to be removed.

“The tree removal plan is unprofessional, the survival rate of the trees will become very low once their roots are damaged, but the agricultural department did not do anything to rescue the trees,” Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) of the Green Party Taiwan said, adding that hurting the trees is a terrible example to set the school’s students.

Members of the tree protection volunteer group said there are already enough parking spaces in the nearby area and that the construction project would destroy the “Small Vienna Forrest” — local residents’ nickname for the area — which is the only piece of green land with trees in the whole neighborhood.

An official from the city’s agriculture department said yesterday that an examination of five trees sawed down on Tuesday showed that inappropriate measures had been used to remove them, with too few branches remaining, adding that the trees would be treated to try and save them.

Nuclear waste poses huge problem

By Wang Chung-ming 王鐘銘

The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant crisis taught the world one thing: The danger of nuclear waste is just as serious as having nuclear reactors in operation. Two years after the disaster in Japan, Taiwanese should not only insist that construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant be halted, but that the government should face up to the fact that it is incapable of handling nuclear waste and seriously think about how to solve this intractable problem. The nation needs to come up with concrete and feasible policies for nuclear waste as soon as possible.

Environmental impact assessments (EIA) on management policies for radioactive waste are a crucial part of this process. However, the government has been lazy and has overlooked the formulation and assessment of such management policies. In May 2011, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) did not tell concerned civic groups what they were planning to do and secretly held the first-ever task force meeting on the matter.

After learning in November about the clandestine meeting, these groups attended the next meeting, which erupted into a dispute. Surprisingly, no other meetings on the matter were held after that. Does the government think that dealing with nuclear waste is a policy that only involves government officials and that the public should be excluded?

The environmental impact assessment submitted to the EPA by the AEC is riddled with contradictions and misinformation. When this document came out, civic groups identified five major problems. First, it is impossible to process nuclear waste outside of Taiwan, but neither is it feasible to process it within Taiwan because of local geological conditions.

Second, spent fuel rod storage pools have reached their legal capacities, increasing the risks of radioactive accidents.

Third, dry storage facilities are not the answer to the problem of overstoring spent fuel rods in these pools.
Fourth, despite precedents overseas of radioactive matter leaking into groundwater, the EIA failed to address this risk.

And fifth, forcibly storing low-level radioactive waste in less developed remote areas runs counter to the principle of promoting equal development for all regions.

It has been almost a year-and-a-half since the groups raised these five questions, but the AEC has yet to provide an answer, and the EPA has not taken the council to task over this. EIAs for nuclear waste policies are very important, but instead of following up on the matter or offering an answer or response to these groups, the AEC and the EPA have chosen to bury their heads in the sand and pretend the problem with nuclear waste does not exist.

Apart from highlighting how inefficient the government is and how it shirks responsibility, these phenomena are also proof that nuclear waste is an issue that has no solution. Since there is no solution, the only option is to immediately abolish nuclear power and stop the production of more nuclear waste.

The state-run Taiwan Power Co and the AEC often say that nuclear waste is a fact and there is nothing that can be done about it. In doing so, they are treating nuclear waste that has yet to be produced as something that already exists.

Such discourse is tantamount to blackmailing the public and is aimed at making people think they have no choice but to accept only one way of dealing with nuclear waste.

Trying to reduce nuclear waste levels was one out of four of the guiding principles for the management of radioactive waste and this is aimed at lowering output volume. However, the environmental impact statement only mentioned incineration and compression as methods for reducing nuclear waste and completely ignored other, more effective methods.

In its environmental impact statement, the AEC provided numbers on current and projected levels of high-level radioactive waste.

According to these estimates, assuming the nation’s four nuclear power stations were to operate for another 40 years, we have to date already produced approximately 42 percent of the total projected level of radioactive waste.

Viewed from another perspective, it means that if nuclear power were abolished immediately, 60 percent of the projected nuclear waste will never be produced.

Apart from coming up with ways to solve the problem of that 40 percent existing nuclear waste, the public needs to do one even more important thing: Stop operations of the three existing nuclear power plans and halt construction of the fourth. This way the nation could minimize its output volume at the source and stop nuclear waste from being produced ever again.

Translated by Drew Cameron


This article was published in Taipei Times:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2013/03/20/2003557507/2

Taipei Times: Environmentalists rally against Tamkang Bridge

Environmentalists rally against Tamkang Bridge

RUINING THE VIEW:Protesters said the proposed Tamkang Bridge would destroy the vaunted Tamsui sunset view that has been ranked as one of the great ‘Eight Views of Taiwan’

Wed, Sep 28, 2011
By Lee I-chia / Staff Reporter

A small number of concerned residents rallied in front of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in Taipei yesterday, calling on the government to clarify the construction plans for Tamkang Bridge (淡江大橋) and include more civic participation in the construction process.

Green Party central executive committee member Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘) led about 10 people in the rally.

The bridge will span the Tamsui River (淡水河) in New Taipei City (新北市), linking Bali Township (八里) and Tamsui Township.

The project received conditional approval in 1999 from the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) committee, but construction was postponed because of the Tambei Expressway, which did not get approval until June.

The Directorate-General of Highways said the bridge would be convenient for residents, boost economic development and help ease holiday traffic. However, the area has been considered a famous scenic spot and one of the “Eight Views of Taiwan” (台灣八景) for decades. It is feared that the proposed bridge would obstruct the view.

Wang said the plan would ruin the scenery and questioned the procedural legitimacy of separating the bridge construction plan from the expressway construction plan. The government should have a total development plan for the area and evaluate the impact on and benefits to the natural environment, traffic, culture and economy as a whole, rather than individual segments.

“Some people say the sunset could still be seen on the new bridge, but actually the unique part of the sunset in Tamsui is that you can see the landscape of Bali and Tamsui on both sides of the river mouth, with the sun setting into the ocean,” a local resident surnamed Yan (顏) said.

Following the rally, an EIA meeting on the environmental impact analysis for the alterations to the original plan was held at the EPA’s headquarters in the afternoon.

The main alteration was to widen the bridge from 33m to 44m to include two-way light rail tracks, moving a highway ramp 500m south and changes to the interchange design.

During the meeting, two local residents and a representative from an environmental organization said the public hearings lacked civic participation because they were not announced early enough and very few people attended them.

During the discussion, two committee members asked whether the plan required a new EIA evaluation, because the environment and situation may have changed over the past decade. They said widening the bridge was not a minor alteration.

The meeting concluded that the developers must provide additional information, including an impact assessment for nearby nature reserves and riverbanks, impact analyses for different periods during the day, more public input and public hearings and an evaluation of the safety of water activities in the area.

Taipei Times:

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/09/28/2003514393