Environmental groups today submitted a petition to the Executive Yuan calling on the government to stop tax relief and subsidy programs incentivizing the construction of garbage incinerators.
The Ministry of Environment (MOENV) has allowed government agencies of all levels that operate incinerators to apply the Act for Promotion of Private Participation in Infrastructure Projects (促進民間參與公共建設法) and receive five-year tax exemptions, plus further tax reductions and subsidies.
The groups called upon the Ministry of Finance and the MOENV to amend the act and further revise the definition of “major public infrastructure projects.”
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
The Executive Yuan said that it has heard the request and would arrange for the MOENV and related agencies to review the matter.
Incineration and waste burial costs should be borne by waste producers and based on the amount of waste they generate, Taiwan Watch Institute secretary-general Herlin Hsieh (謝和霖) said, calling the current tax scheme unfair and unjust.
Changhua County already has nine incinerators, yet developers continue to propose new incinerators and landfill sites, with the county processing more industrial waste than it produces, Changhua Environmental Protection Union researcher Lin Cheng-han (林政翰) said.
Profit-hungry developers are using government subsidies and tax relief programs funded by taxpayers' money, while the public suffers from the resulting pollution, he added, calling for an immediate end to the policy.
The Executive Yuan’s Department of Transportation, Environment and Natural Resources accepted the petition.
The groups and the government share the same goal of addressing waste issues, and their demands have been heard, department Deputy Director Huang Chih-yuan (黃志元) said.
The petition would be forwarded to the MOENV and relevant agencies, which would work to review the petition and resolve waste disposal issues, he added.
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