The Taipei High Administrative Court’s decision to nullify an environmental impact assessment (EIA) committee’s approval of the proposed Tamsui-Taipei expressway project on Wednesday has drawn different reactions from the Taipei City and New Taipei City (新北市) governments, with the former saying it respects the court’s decision and the latter vowing to continue the construction.
“Because the EIA approval is still valid at this point and construction has already begun, the project will continue,” New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday, adding that the city would seek to balance the public’s reaction and the need to preserve the environment, as well as ask the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to continue with an appeal of the case.
Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), on the other hand, said the city respects the court’s decision.
Photo: Lai Hsiao-tung, Taipei Times
“We will need to communicate with the residents about the budget of the project as well as other relevant issues,” he added. “The project will continue only if we secure the approval of local residents.”
The proposed expressway is about 4.7km long and is to connect Highway No. 2 in New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) and the intersection of Dadu Road (大度路) and Zhongyang N Road (中央北路) in Taipei City. The project was estimated to cost NT$4.6 billion.
While some people argued that the new expressway would ease traffic congestion on Highway No. 2, some local residents do not see the project as an effective solution to the problem.
“Tamsui does not need this kind of construction, which would benefit mostly real-estate developers,” resident Chang Chien (張簡) said.
Another Tamsui resident surnamed Hsu (許) said the biggest problem causing constant traffic congestion on Highway No. 2 was perpetual government constructions on the highway.
“Although that main road has three lanes, often only one or two lanes are available,” she said.
Hsu also questioned the necessity of building the expressway, given that the government has already approved the construction of a light-rail transport system and has been encouraging people to use public transportation more often.
Construction of the Tamsui-Taipei expressway was first proposed by the Directorate-General of Highways in 1996. It was turned down by the EIA committee in 2000, but the proposal was again tabled by New Taipei City in 2008 and was conditionally approved by the EIA committee.
Environmentalists who oppose the construction filed an administrative lawsuit in April seeking to nullify the EIA committee’s approval.
According to the verdict on Wednesday, the EIA committee approved the project based on insufficient information and the conditions it set also failed to consider if New Taipei City has the ability to meet those conditions.
The committee also failed to ascertain if the construction would damage the Mangrove Forest Conservation Area, nor did the committee provide specific requirements on the types of hedges to be constructed to serve as a buffer between the construction and the conservation area, the verdict said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and