The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) celebrated its 20th anniversary yesterday, and received a "tumor cake" as a gift from environmental protection groups keen to highlight what they see as the deterioration of the nation's environment.
The cake was made using polluted duck eggs, rice and oysters, which were then mixed with mud from the Central Cross-Island Highway (中橫公路). The oil used to blend the ingredients contained polychlorinated biphenyls.
Meanwhile, 20 candles were placed on top of the "cake." Each representing a controversial development, such as the Formosa Plastics Corp steel plant, the CPC Corp, Taiwan petrochemical plant and the planned Suhua Freeway (蘇花高速公路).
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Environmentalists said that like the candles, the pollution these projects would generate would spread like a tumor does in the body.
About 20 activists gathered in front of the EPA building yesterday morning to present the cake to administration officials, but no official came out to accept it.
Green Party Taiwan Secretary-General Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) said the EPA has degenerated from a guardian of the environment into an endorser of all development projects.
"The Suhua Freeway project may soon be launched because the premier has said it will, [while] the Formosa petrochemical plant will not be penalized for overuse of water on President Chen's [Shui-bian (陳水扁)] instructions," he said.
Pan said if the environmental impact review committee granted approval to all these projects, the nation's carbon dioxide emissions would increase by 40 percent.
Secretary-General of the Green Consumers' Foundation Jay Fang (方儉) said that late premier Yu Kuo-hua (俞國華) had once said "protecting the environment is superior to developing the economy."
Fang also said 20 years ago the press was allowed to attend all EPA events, except for major bid cases, but now the press has only restricted access to information from the agency.
"This shows that the administration is trying to control what information is disseminated and likes to work things out behind closed doors," he said.
Chairman of the Environmental Quality Protection Foundation Liou Ming-long (劉銘龍) said the foundation had applied to stage a "memorial service" on Chunghwa Rd, Taipei City, for all those who have died because of pollution.
"The EPA, like a reversing high speed train, is moving backwards," he said.
In response, EPA Deputy Director Chang Tzi-chin (張子敬) said the accusations regarding the projects being railroaded through were pure speculation. He said the environmental review impact committee had not yet reviewed any of the cases mentioned and that press participation at the meetings was the same as last year.
Chang said the administration would continue to communicate with environmentalists about their concerns.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS