Although the Penghu County Government considers construction of casino resorts there an important policy objective, the plan may be postponed because an insufficient number of signatures have been collected to hold a referendum.
The Legislative Yuan passed amendments to the Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例) in January that would allow construction of casinos on the islands if more than 50 percent of the locals agree to it in a referendum.
While many local governments expressed interest in building casinos, Penghu County has been the most active.
Earlier this year, Penghu County Commissioner Wang Chien-fa (王乾發) said that the county would hold a referendum next month and start reviewing investment plans from interested parties, and — if everything went smoothly — casino resorts would begin operation in 2013.
While the plan was hailed by many residents such as Wang and Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator Lin Pin-kuan (林炳坤), others have voiced concerns over negative impacts that large-scale casino resorts may bring.
However, only weeks away from the month when the referendum was to be held, the county’s Civil Affairs Bureau director, Chang Jui-tung (張瑞棟), was quoted by the Penghu-based newspaper Penghu Times as saying yesterday that an insufficient number of signatures have been collected to hold the referendum.
The Referendum Act (公民投票法) stipulates that a county-level referendum must first be proposed along with signatures from 0.5 percent of the number of people who voted in the last county commissioner election — which is 352 people in Penghu’s case.
The proposal threshold was easily crossed when the Penghu Chamber of Commerce submitted 505 signatures in February.
In the second stage, a petition with signatures from 5 percent of the number of people who voted in the last county commissioner election — 3,521 in Penghu’s case — must be submitted for the referendum to take place.
While both Chang and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Penghu County Councilor Hu Sung-jung (胡松榮) declined to reveal the number of signatures collected at the moment, Hu said that “it will be impossible to hold the referendum in June and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be held any time soon.”
“The county government should be more active in mobilizing people to sign the petition so that the problem can be resolved,” Hu said.
On the other hand, Democratic Progressive Party County Councilor Yang Yao (楊曜) disagreed.
“Whatever the situation is, the county government should remain neutral and respect whatever Penghu residents decide to do,” he said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS