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Taipei court suspends science park expansion
2010/07/30 21:46:54 |
Taipei, July 30 (CNA) A Taipei court ruled Friday that the Central Taiwan Science Park's expansion project be shelved temporarily before environmental impact assessment controversies related to the project are addressed.
The Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) gave the project a green light last November after it passed an environment impact assessment.
But residents of Changhua County's Erlin Township filed an appeal with the Taipei High Administrative Court asking that the project be shelved or scrapped because of EPA negligence in approving the impact assessment, and the court ruled in their favor Friday.
The panel of judges said the ruling was not a final verdict but a contingency measure aimed at protecting the interests of the farmers of Erlin Township's Siangsihliao community, whose farmland is being taken away because of the science park expansion.
Responding to the court's ruling, Chou Neng-chuan, deputy director-general of the Industrial Development Bureau, said the fourth CTSP expansion plan was planned mainly to house the new flat panel factory of Taiwan's biggest panel maker, AU Optronics (AUO).
The project's suspension is not expected to adversely affect AUO's production in the short run, Chou said, but would affect the TFT-LCD giant's business in the long run and would also deal a blow to Taiwan's overall industrial development.
Meanwhile, the National Science Council, which was instrumental in arranging for the development of the Erlin science park, said it has started mapping alternative plans in the hope that a solution will emerge.
Also commenting on the court's ruling, Liao Pen-chuan, an associate professor at National Taipei University, said the EPA should immediately repeal the environmental impact assessment it passed last year.
The Changhua County government also responded to the ruling, urging the central government to continue to push for industrial development in local areas and vowing to continue to communicate with the residents of Siangsihliao in search of a solution to the issue.
(By Lai You-chia, Yang Su-min, Su Lung-chi, Wu Cheh-hao and Deborah Kuo)
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