Penghu County Commissioner Chen Kuang-fu (陳光復) has ordered that construction of the controversial Dacang Cultural Park be suspended, saying that the build-operate-transfer project proposed by his predecessor was a heavy financial burden and lacked public support.
A recent survey conducted by the county government showed that 55 percent of Penghu residents opposed the project, while only 20 percent were in favor of it, Chen said on Monday.
“A major development plan should be implemented to win people’s approval instead of causing antipathy,” he said.
Apart from the steep budget earmarked for the construction — NT$550 million (US$17.46 million) in addition to contingency fees — management of the park and its potential ecological impact should also be considered, he said.
“If the project could bring economic benefits, it would be worth carrying out with loans by the county government. Conversely, the county government cannot — and should not — encourage the establishment of yet another mausoleum,” he said.
Chen said he would put together a nine-member ad hoc committee to examine the project, including the contract, construction quality, potential economic benefits and environmental impact, and announce his final decision next month.
The project to build a 6.5-hectare park dedicated to the goddess Matsu and a hotel complex on the 18-hectare Dacang Island has been contentious since it was proposed and approved by former Penghu County commissioner Wang Chien-fa (王乾發), and became a target of public criticism when construction started after bypassing an environmental impact assessment and public hearings
Other than a NT$50 million grant issued by the central government for a landscape engineering project, the county government — which is already burdened with a debt of more than NT$2 billion — is desperately short of the NT$550 million needed for the project. The former administration planned to raise NT$300 million from the private sector, but only received NT$5 million.
Penghu Ocean Citizen Alliance founder Wu Shuang-tse (吳雙澤), a Dacang resident, called Chen’s announcement the “best Lunar New Year gift to Penghu residents,” saying the move could presage a new era of administration that implements policies based on public opinion and defends the values it believes to be right.
“Here’s hoping that the county government will push for development while eliminating connivance, thereby challenging an outdated system and encouraging civic participation to ensure government transparency,” he said.
“He [Chen] has demonstrated his values and a desire for reform by halting the construction. The suspension of Dacang Cultural Park’s construction is a statement on his administrative style,” Wu said.
DPP Penghu Councilor Chen Hui-ling (陳慧玲), who opposes the project, has volunteered to join the nine-member ad hoc committee, while also recommending that Wu and Yu Kuo-lin (郁國麟), whom she described as an established construction engineer, be committee members.
“I have always said that the fate of Dacang Park should be decided by Penghu residents. The survey reconfirmed the fact that the policy formed by Wang’s administration deviates greatly from the public will,” she 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
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
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
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
RSS