Penghu County could be developed into a chain of “green” energy islands with distinctive tourist attractions, Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said yesterday.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yang Yao (楊曜) asked the premier during a legislative session what the government is planning for the county’s development after casinos were turned down as an option in a referendum on Saturday last week.
Penghu has clean and beautiful landscapes that could be transformed into eco-tourism attractions and its islands can be given distinctive “green” energy features alongside further development of low-carbon projects, Lin said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsung, Taipei Times
“The county’s tourism could be upgraded if it featured ‘green’ energy and its beauty and special characteristics can be seen. We believe that Penghu’s natural landscapes and features have the potential to be turned into global attractions,” he said.
Yang asked the government to help the county build tourist sites in addition to existing venues — an aquarium, a geology museum, a crab museum and an ocean resources museum — and construct indoor facilities so that tourism can be maintained during winter, when the county sees a drastic drop in the number of visitors.
Lin said he agreed that winter tourism could be improved, but added that tourism-oriented islands would increase the added value of summer tourism and allow the environment to rest during winter.
DPP Legislator Chen Man-li (陳曼麗), who campaigned against allowing casinos in the county, said the archipelago needs sustainable development.
Penghu’s natural beauty would be protected if it is shielded from overdevelopment, but the county also needs economic development, as Penghu Commissioner Chen Kuang-fu (陳光復) said that his government’s annual revenue is NT$300 million (US$9.5 million), while its annual spending exceeds NT$5 billion, Chen Man-li said.
“What the county needs most is better transportation. Penghu has a total of 90 islands, and transportation between them, and between the county and Taiwan proper is crucial,” she said.
Penghu is actually larger than it seems “when you join its 90 islands,” Chen Man-li said, adding that Taiwan is a maritime nation.
An “ocean commission” has been planned, but not yet established by the Executive Yuan, Chen Man-li said and asked the premier for a timetable.
“There are two stages in the government’s restructuring plan, the first would be simpler mergers, such as the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission,” Lin said.
Establishing a “ministry of environmental resources” and an “ocean commission” would be handled in the second stage, he said.
“Whether the Coast Guard Administration, which is a big agency, would be included in the planned commission is still being debated, as some people are calling for a reconsideration of the commission’s positioning, which should be oriented toward ocean policies, strategic thinking and research.” Lin said.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
The Civil Aviation Administration yesterday said that it is considering punishments for China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines for making hard landings and overworking their cabin crew when the nation was hit by Typhoon Kong-rey in October last year. The civil aviation authority launched an investigation after media reported that many airlines were forced to divert their flights to different airports or go around after failing to land when the typhoon affected the nation on Oct. 30 and 31 last year. The agency reviewed 503 flights dispatched by Taiwanese airlines during those two days, as well as weather data, flight hours
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Three people have had their citizenship revoked after authorities confirmed that they hold Chinese ID cards, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday. Two of the three people were featured in a recent video about Beijing’s “united front” tactics by YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), including Su Shi-en (蘇士恩), who displayed a Chinese ID card in the video, and taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲), who mentioned he had obtained a Chinese ID card in a telephone call with Chen, Liang told the council’s weekly news conference. Lee, who reportedly worked in
RSS