Tainan County Commissioner Mark Chen (
Chen told EPA head Hau Lung-bin (
Several prominent local politicians also expressed their support for Chen, including DPP lawmaker Lee Chun-yee (
Hau apologized to Chen for the EPA's decision to build such a depository without notifying the local government first. He said that the idea actually originated with a suggestion by Taiwan Sugar Corp (台糖) which operates the Sha Lun Farm (沙崙農場) where the 78-hectare waste depository, the first such facility in Taiwan, will be built.
Hau said the EPA was optimistic that the facility would help attract high-tech firms to the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park (
He promised to offer both residents and the local government satisfactory compensation. According to details released yesterday, the EPA will pay NT$4.5 million per hectare before the depository begins operations. After the facility is running, Taiwan Sugar will offer follow-up compensation.
Hau stressed yesterday afternoon in Taipei that the EPA would carry out the project regardless, as it was approved by the Cabinet in January.
Hau said that protesting residents might not be fully aware of the importance of such well-designed final depositories for industrial waste.
"We will keep communicating with local residents until they accept the idea," Hau said.
EPA officials explained that such depositories were for industrial waste that could not be recycled.
Leu Horng-guang (
"Taiwan produces 18 million tonnes of industrial waste each year, half of which can in fact be recycled," Leu said. But that which cannot be recycled needs to be deposited in a landfill.
EPA officials said that residue collected from waste incinerators, including toxic fly ash and bottom ash, would be sent to designated depositories. They stressed that toxic fly ash would be stabilized before storage and then kept apart from other waste.
The project to manage industrial waste approved by the Cabinet in January was drawn up by the EPA and Taiwan Sugar Corp under the Industrial Development Bureau.
According to the project, two final depositories for industrial waste, occupying a total of 60 hectares, are to be available by December next year.
The EPA hopes to build two 30-hectare facilities, one in central Taiwan and the other in the south. Because of the urgent need for waste disposal, however, it plans to have a 10-hectare final depository available by April next year.
Currently, Taiwan Sugar Corp has a 72-hectare site in Kueijen township in Tainan County and a 78-hectare site in Tacheng township (
EPA officials said that the two locations were undergoing environmental impact assessments.
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS