A resort planned near Taitung County’s Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣) on Wednesday failed an environmental assessment for the second time, dealing another blow to the project, which has been languishing in review for 16 years.
Reviewers deliberated for 15 minutes before rejecting the application to allow construction of the project, which has been dubbed the “most troubled zombie tourism investment in history.”
The projected Dulan Bay Golden Sea Resort, which would include a 500-room hotel complex on an 11.3-hectare plot, was initially granted environmental approval in 2000.
Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
However, as construction did not begin within three years, the developers were legally required to submit another assessment report analyzing environmental changes.
Residents and environmental advocates protested the project, saying that it would damage an archeological site and coral reefs, and that it would encroach on Amis lands without the developer having properly communicated with the communities.
The site is near Beinan Township’s (卑南) Fushan (富山), where ancient pottery remains have been discovered.
In the intervening years, the project proposal underwent eight committee meetings and two assessments before the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) returned the case to the Tourism Bureau in 2018.
The bureau in 2020 submitted the case again, but the same objections remained, leading to Wednesday’s rejection, which came after the developer failed to present a report.
The developer said it would respect the committee’s decision, and consider the possibility of downsizing the project and preserving the archeological site.
Although it did not send a representative to the meeting, the bureau submitted a letter saying that the market has changed significantly since the project was first approved more than 20 years ago and the original financing plan no longer applies.
The developer said it on Jan. 25 received a letter saying that it had one year to submit a revised business plan.
Without asking further questions, the reviewers unanimously voted to reject the plan.
Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan deputy executive director Tsai Chung-yueh (蔡中岳) said that the project exposes loopholes in Taiwan’s environmental review mechanism.
Even though the project had been rejected, the case was resubmitted, wasting resources and causing years of torment for the developer and residents, Tsai said.
The EPA should settle old cases and ask the bureau to complete its promised assessments of east coast projects to avoid the situation from happening again, he added.
A former member of the US Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), formerly known as SEAL Team 6, said in an interview with Business Insider that the elite unit’s role in a Taiwan Strait conflict would be more limited than some might expect. The report follows an earlier one in September by the Financial Times, which said the “clandestine US Navy commando unit” has been training for missions to help Taiwan if it is invaded by China. “You don’t use a scalpel for a job a hammer can do,” the former Navy Seal said to Business Insider on condition of anonymity.
HACKERS’ MARKET: Chat logs about Taiwan and documents outlining ways to take over online accounts were leaked from a company that sells data from hacks Taiwanese cybersecurity specialists found 577 leaked documents which show that the Chinese Communist Party is engaging in “cognitive warfare” against Taiwan through cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns, a documentary released last month by Japanese public broadcaster NHK showed. The filmmakers behind Tracking China’s Leaked Documents said they spent six months visiting seven countries, including Taiwan, where they interviewed members of TeamT5, a malware research and cybersecurity firm, which found the leaked documents. TeamT5 said they discovered a string of mysterious URLs on the social media platform X, which they suspected could be accounts created by hackers or people who leaked data, which led
RESOURCE RICH: Taiwan is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire and has up to 30 gigawatts of the potential energy, of which 10 gigawatts could be economically viable Academia Sinica and CPC Corp yesterday began drilling the nation’s first deep geothermal well in Yilan County’s Yuanshan Township (員山). The 4km-deep well is expected to take 18 months to complete and has an estimated investment of NT$337 million (US$10.54 million), Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) said. “While Taiwan has up to 30 gigawatts of potential deep geothermal energy, with an estimated 10 gigawatts being economically viable, only by digging wells can we determine the actual amount of commercially viable geothermal energy,” Liao said at the project’s opening ceremony. Data collected during and after the excavation process would be used for future
Rain is to increase from Wednesday morning as Severe Tropical Storm Kong-Rey approaches, with sea warnings to be issued as early as tomorrow afternoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. As of 8am, Kong-Rey was 1,050km east-southeast of the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) heading in a northwesterly direction toward Taiwan, CWA Forecast Center Director Lin Po-tung (林伯東) said. Rainfall is to increase from Wednesday morning, especially in northern Taiwan and Yilan County, he said. A sea warning is possible from tomorrow afternoon, while a land warning may be issued on Wednesday morning, he added. Kong-Rey may intensify into a moderate typhoon as it passes