Following a recent court ruling that favored farmers over a plan to expand a science park, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday said the government might reconsider the project to respect the wishes of local people who want to continue farming.
The government might consider excluding Siangsihliao (相思寮) from the area designated for the fourth-stage expansion project of the Central Taiwan Science Park, but this would require further study before a decision is made, Wu told reporters.
The Taipei High Administrative Court on Friday ruled against the science park's expansion project, ordering all expansion activities to be halted until two ongoing lawsuits are settled.
Environmentalists and some farmers living in Siangsihliao, Erlin Township (二林), Changhua County, filed three lawsuits over the project, asking for a revocation of the science park's construction permit for the expansion and for the results of an environmental impact assessment, as well as a suspension of all expansion activities until rulings on the first two items are given.
The science park received a green light following an environmental impact assessment for the plan in November, but activists who oppose the project argue that the review procedure was defective.
Wu said he had not read the entire ruling, but was briefed by the National Science Council, which supervises the CTSP, and the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).
The government will look into the ruling and see if it is necessary to conduct another impact assessment for the expansion project at Siangsiliao, Wu said.
"A possible solution could be the exclusion of Siangsiliao from the expansion project, which would allow us to respect the wishes of locals to continue farming. This is my personal opinion; it needs further study by the science park," Wu said.
In related news, the Taipei High Administrative Court accused the EPA of ignoring a ruling it made in January 2008 that nullified the environmental impact assessment made for the science park's third-stage expansion project in Taichung County's Houli Township (后里).
The ruling was later upheld by the Supreme Administrative Court.
On the Houli project, Wu said he supported the EPA's decision to allow the construction to proceed, saying that in its ruling the Supreme Administrative Court did not demand the suspension of the project, but rather required that the EPA conduct a health risk assessment.
Wu said he had doubts about the applicability of the ruling given by the Taipei High Administrative Court, which ordered the suspension of the Houli project, adding that the Supreme Administrative Court outranked the Taipei High Administrative Court.
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