EPA Gives Green Light for Suao-Hualien Freeway

Taipei, March 4, 2008 (CENS)--A panel of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), under the Executive Yuan (the Cabinet), passed the report on the environmental differential analysis for Suao-Hualien Freeway yesterday (March 3), virtually removing the barrier for the construction of the projected 86-kilometer freeway which will greatly stimulates development of eastern Taiwan.

After a six-hour marathon screening, the panel resolved to allow construction of the 60-kilometer mountainous section of the project from Suao in Ilan County to Chungteh in Hualien County first, with construction of the remaining 26-kilometer section in plain area south of Chungteh having to wait for passage of its environmental impact assessment.

The resolution will be confirmed by another meeting of the panel recently before being submitted to the general environment assessment meeting of the EPA for financial ratification.

The report on environmental differential analysis is critical for resumption of the project, due to suspension of the project by the Executive Yuan in late 2003 and change in part of the route, although the project's environmental impact assessment was already passed in 2000.

Total spending for the project is estimated at NT$120 billion, much higher than original budget of NT$93 billion, due to increased material prices in recent years, which is expected to create NT$139.5 billion of annual production value and 37,600 job vacancies.

The project is expected to greatly stimulate Hualien County's tourist industry, whose development has been hampered by unreliable transportation of the existing Suao-Hualien Highway, due to frequent disruption caused by landslide during rainy season.