The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would not rush through bills mandating transportation infrastructure development on the east coast before the legislature goes on leave in July, KMT Legislator Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said on Wednesday.
The party has proposed three bills that would require the government to expand the high-speed rail to the east coast, build an expressway linking Hualien and Taitung counties, and extend the east-west Shuishalian Freeway (Freeway No. 6) to Hualien from Nantou County.
The Democratic Progressive Party has criticized the proposal as a prohibitively expensive “money pit.”
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
Environmental advocates have also expressed concern that the proposed timeline of 10 years would not leave enough time to conduct thorough environmental impact assessments.
KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) earlier said the party would seek to pass the bills before the legislature goes on leave on July 16.
However, media have reported that opinions within the KMT are split on the issue.
Lee, who serves as director of the KMT’s Culture and Communications Committee, confirmed in a radio interview on Wednesday that many different opinions were shared during internal caucus discussions in recent days.
Fu’s conclusion was that the caucus would respect the views of its members and adjust the order of priority accordingly, she said.
From their experience passing legislative reform bills last week, the new legislators have learned about the legislative process and are concerned about which bills are raised in which committees, she said, adding that if they are not introduced properly, the whole party would take the blame.
For the three infrastructure bills, many party members support first evaluating finances, feasibility and environmental impact before proceeding, she said.
Lee also criticized the rough cost estimate of NT$2 trillion (US$61.82 billion) given by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, saying it was unfair to Hualien residents to not properly evaluate the projects before giving a number.
However, party members agree on the importance of getting expert endorsements and holding discussions before passing the bills, she added.
Speaking to reporters at the Legislative Yuan on Wednesday, KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said it might take years to figure out the budget and estimate environmental impact of the high-speed rail and Freeway No. 6 projects.
However, the Hualien-Taitung expressway project has already been proven feasible by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications at an estimated cost of NT$200 billion, so it might make more sense to discuss the projects separately, he added.
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the
Taiwan plans to cull as many as 120,000 invasive green iguanas this year to curb the species’ impact on local farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture said. Chiu Kuo-hao (邱國皓), a section chief in the ministry’s Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, on Sunday said that green iguanas have been recorded across southern Taiwan and as far north as Taichung. Although there is no reliable data on the species’ total population in the country, it has been estimated to be about 200,000, he said. Chiu said about 70,000 iguanas were culled last year, including about 45,000 in Pingtung County, 12,000 in Tainan, 9,900 in
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
ALLEGED SABOTAGE: The damage inflicted by the vessel did not affect connection, as data were immediately rerouted to other cables, Chunghwa Telecom said Taiwan suspects that a Chinese-owned cargo vessel damaged an undersea cable near its northeastern coast on Friday, in an alleged act of sabotage that highlights the vulnerabilities of Taipei’s offshore communications infrastructure. The ship is owned by a Hong Kong-registered company whose director is Chinese, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. An unidentified Taiwanese official cited in the report described the case as sabotage. The incident followed another Chinese vessel’s suspected involvement in the breakages of data cables in the Baltic Sea in November last year. While fishing trawlers are known to sometimes damage such equipment, nation states have also
RSS