The controversial Meinung Reservoir project is “no longer an issue,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said on Sunday, as she pledged to protect the environment in the predominantly Hakka community.
Tsai made the remarks during a visit to Kaohsiung to attend the Yellow Butterfly Festival in Meinung Township (美濃).
Now in its 20th year, the festival was originally launched amid public opposition to the reservoir project, whose proposed site allegedly lies on the Jhutoushan Fault (竹頭山斷層).
Photo: Chen You-cheng, Taipei Times
The project’s detractors say the proposed reservoir would flood the habitat of the lemon emigrant butterfly (Catopsilia pomona) and a range of animal species native to Meinung.
In a speech, Tsai spoke out against the contentious project.
“After 20 years, I believe that the Meinung Reservoir is no longer an issue,” she said.
She said that without a catchment basin, she would endeavor to overcome the “daunting task” of ensuring a safe water supply in a sustainable manner if she becomes president.
She also praised local environmentalists’ conservation efforts, which she said have resulted in a steady increase in the number of lemon emigrant butterflies in the region.
“It is our shared hope to conserve this area to achieve biodiversity,” Tsai said.
Meinung People’s Association director Arthur Liu (劉孝伸) said the theme of this year’s event was pursuing eco-friendly and sustainable development in the spirit of the Satoyama Initiative.
This can be achieved by refraining from using pesticides and herbicides and practicing sustainable fishing methods to achieve biodiversity.
He said that over recent years, the number of lemon emigrant butterflies has risen significantly in Meinung and the nearby Liouguei District (六龜).
He said that after rain, thousands of butterflies cover the sky of the Yellow Butterfly Jade Valley in Meinung, which attracts visitors from across the nation to witness the spectacle.
The event also features a ritual to worship the Bogong (伯公), Hakka deities that watch over the mountains and wildlife, as well as the spirits of wild animals slaughtered by humans.
The ritual is held to repent for human wrongs and to pray for stability and abundance in residents’ lives, Liu said.
Performing art groups Assignment Theater and Dada Idea also graced the event with their shows, which featured plots based on historical events in Meinung, including protests against the reservoir project.
Liu said the serious air pollution in Kaohsiung related to the amount of water consumed by manufacturing plants, because if they were to consume more water than they currently use, their production capacity would also increase, resulting in even more air pollution.
In response to comments by Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), who said she would seek to “overturn” the business structure of the municipality for environmental conservation, Liu called on Chen to put forth a roadmap for the plan.
‘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
RSS