In its March 2005 report on the Suhua Highway project, the Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau (TANEEB) calls the planned construction 'safe' and "sustainable". Since September 2004, however, The Grassroots Council for a Sustainable Taiwan (GCST), formed from 15 NGOs throughout the country, has listed the road as one of Taiwan's 24 environmental 'Danger Spots', owing to the ecological damage it does and will bring to the area, and the fact that it is inherently "unsustainable".
Environmental groups are not alone in their opposition to the project. A vote carried out on the County Government's Web site, and a survey by Hualien's National Dong-Hwa University, indicate high levels of opposition amongst the public (70 percent and 63 percent, respectively*). Intellectuals such as Chen Yi-ling (陳怡伶) from National Hualien Teachers College are writing prolifically to express their dismay and to refute the claims of the TANEEB and other proponents. Lawyers have repeatedly submitted evidence of a flawed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and pointed to the fact that the EIA has only been approved "conditionally". And in March 2005, Taiwan's Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長延) expressed concern about the lack of a cost-benefit analysis and the failure to heed the warnings of environmental groups (interpreted later by an Executive Yuan spokesperson as indicating a need for a new EIA).
As is common with any projects involving large expenditures and lucrative construction contracts, a number of politicians are suspected of having close links to the businesses and there are rumours that the spoils are already divided.
Suhua Highway: Contracted companies:
Li-De Construction (Taiwan) 利得營造
Long-Da Construction (Taiwan) 隆大營造
Maeda (Japan) 日商前田 (also involved in the Three Gorges Dam project in China)
Suhua Highway: Supportive politicians:
1. Hualien County Magistrate Hsieh Shen-shan (謝深山).
2. Hualien County Council Speaker Yang Wen-chi(楊文值) (suspected of links to crime syndicates in Hualien)
3. Hualien County Council Deputy Speaker Lin Lien-ming (林連明).
4. Hualien county councilors Hsieh Kuo-Jung, Huang Hsien-tung, Huang-Hsin and Chen Wenguang (謝國榮、黃憲東、黃馨、陳文光).
5. Legislators:
i. Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) (sentenced in Jan 2005 to four years in prison and and a fine of NT$60 million (US$1.87 million) for illegal stock market speculation).
ii. Yang,Jen-Fu (楊仁福) .
iii. Lu Bo-chi (盧博基).
*The second survey also reflected the lack of public awareness of the effects that the road would have on the area, and that support decreased considerably once this information was made available.
More information on the Suhua Highway:
Suhua Highway is listed as one of Taiwan's 24 Danger Spots by The Grassroots Council for a Sustainable Taiwan (GCST) in September 2004, due to its continued negative impact on the ecological environment and the fact that it "run[s] counter to sustainable development" (English).
Link:
Source: Edited by Taiwan Environmental Information Association, from United News.
Lawyers Robin Winkler and Eric Chung write on the dearth of environmental, political and ethical considerations in planning for the Suhua Highway (English).
Link:
Source: Taipei Times
Chen Yi-ling highlights the political-corporate agenda that lies behind projects like the Suhua Highway and is bringing drastic deterioration to the ecological and living environment in Hualien County (English).
Link:
Source: Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association
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