Legislators yesterday gave a preliminary go-ahead to an amendment that would make it easier for businesses to buy property and build tourist resorts on offshore islands.
The revision to the Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例) passed its first review by the Economic Committee amid controversy from opposition lawmakers and environmental groups who fear it could lead to rampant overdevelopment on some of Taiwan’s pristine coastlines.
Proposed by Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator Lin Pin-kun (林炳坤), the amendment would loosen strict land use requirements put on large-scale developments. It would also increase the amount of floor space bonuses local governments can award to land developers.
The proposal would also give local governments the authority to make decisions on large-scale developments not exceeding 50 hectares, a move that environmentalists said could lead to environmental impact assessments being conducted by less thorough local environmental agencies.
Lin, who represents Penghu County, said the proposal was essential to keep foreign investment in the county’s tourism sector from drying up after residents in November last year rejected a plan that would have legalized gambling.
“After the referendum failed last year, foreign companies and investors have said they want to pull out their investments. We are thinking of ways to ensure they stay in Penghu and invest their money in Penghu’s tourist hotels,” Lin said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said the revisions would unfairly benefit large corporations and overshadow the interests of the residents of Penghu.
If the requirements for large developments were lowered, it would have an adverse effect on the island chain’s fragile ecosystem and privatize a number of the county’s scenic coastlines, she said.
Lin rebutted DPP criticism that his proposal was meant to help corporations build casinos in Penghu.
He told a press conference that his proposal would give investors incentives to invest in the hotel businesses on the island.
“The proposal has nothing to do with gambling,” he said.
At a press conference held with Tien yesterday morning, Robin Winkler (文魯彬), an environmentalist working with the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, said only politicians and big business would benefit from the revisions.
Lin said opposition lawmakers misread his intentions and denied that the revisions were in connection with any future plans to hold another casino referendum.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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