Members of the Wuchiang River Protection Union from Kinmen held a demonstration in front of the Control Yuan in Taipei yesterday and filed a complaint with the government watchdog asking it to investigate and stop the construction of a hotel next to the Taihu Reservoir, an important water source for the outlying island.
The group’s representative, Syril Hung (洪篤欽), said the Taihu Reservoir is an important water source for Kinhu Township (金湖) and has been determined to be a drinking water source quality protection area under the Drinking Water Management Act (飲用水管理條例).
Amid water shortages on the island, existing water resources should be protected, in addition to developing new sources, he said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
However, a 50-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement with the Kinmen County Government signed in 2009 has allowed Ever Rich DFS Corp (昇恆昌) to build a hotel next to the Taihu Reservoir, he said.
The protesters said they are concerned that the project would affect not only the already limited quantity of water on Kinmen, but that waste water from the hotel may also damage the reservoir’s water quality.
Citing the Drinking Water Management Act, a member of the group surnamed Chang (張) said that hotels located near water source protection areas may only provide fewer than 20 rooms and are banned from any water polluting behavior.
“However, the planned hotel is only about 40m from the reservoir and has 264 rooms. That’s about 13 times the limit,” she said.
She said the group had asked the local environmental protection bureau to reveal the project’s wastewater treatment plan last month, but that was refused on the grounds that the plan is part of the developer’s assets and cannot be revealed.
“The Taihu Reservoir is the largest water source in the area and it has already been found to have the most serious eutrophication problem among Taiwan’s reservoirs, so we are worried that the project will have further negative effects on the area’s water supply and water quality,” she said.
Eutrophication is a process by which a body of water accumulates a high concentration of plant nutrients, such as phosphates and nitrates, promoting excessive growth of algae.
“BOT projects should benefit the public, yet [in this case,] while the hotel may attract tourists, it may also damage the public interest by demanding too much of the already scarce water supply on the island,” Hung said, urging the Control Yuan to look into the matter.
‘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