The Water Resources Agency yesterday defended a proposed tunnel that would connect the Nanshi Creek (南勢溪) in New Taipei City’s Wulai District (烏來) to the Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) in Taoyuan amid concerns over the project’s possible environmental and social costs.
The project is undergoing an environmental impact assessment and construction would not begin without the approval of Wulai residents, the agency said in a statement.
The agency’s comments came after environmental groups and members of Wulai’s indigenous community voiced their opposition to the project in a report published by the Chinese-language United Daily News.
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
The Taiwan Ecological Engineering Development Foundation called on the agency to cancel plans for the 17.3km tunnel, saying that it would have a “devastating” effect on the Nanshi Creek and the protected species that inhabit it, the paper reported.
A local Atayal resident said he feared construction work for the tunnel could force members of Wulai’s indigenous community off their land, or trigger devastating landslides similar to those that killed at least 471 people in the mountain village of Siaolin (小林) in Kaohsiung during Typhoon Morakot in 2009.
Construction work for the Wulai tunnel would have a minimal effect on the local ecology, as well as the water supply for the Greater Taipei area, the agency said.
It said it chose the Nanshi Creek for the project, as it is likely to have sufficient rainfall to supply other parts of northern Taiwan, including Taoyuan and Hsinchu, to relieve potential water shortages there in addition supplying the Greater Taipei region.
The agency calls the scheme “cross-regional water resource dispatch.”
Construction is expected to cost NT$18.6 billion (US$615.5 million) and take four-and-a-half years, it said.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
STRICTER ENFORCEMENT: Taipei authorities warned against drunk cycling after a sharp rise in riding under the influence, urging greater public awareness of its illegality Taipei authorities have issued a public warning urging people not to ride bicycles after consuming alcohol, following a sharp rise in riding under the influence (DUI) cases involving bicycles. Five hundred and seven people were charged with DUI last year while riding YouBikes, personal bicycles, or other self-propelled two-wheelers — a fourfold increase from the previous year, data released by the Taipei Police Department’s Traffic Division showed. Of these, 33 cases were considered severe enough to be prosecuted under “offenses against public safety,” the data showed. Under the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), bicycles — including YouBikes and other
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
RSS