Mining continues to threaten people and environments in Taiwan’s national forest areas, highlighting the importance of forthcoming changes to the Mining Act.
The News Lens
Date: 2017/10/17
By: Rosemary Chen
The Control Yuan (Taiwan’s investigatory agency) last week censured the Ministry of
Photo Credit: Joe Lo@ Flickr CC BY SA 2.0
Economic Affairs (MOEA) and Hualien County Government for neglecting to enforce regulations on the mining industry — the newest development in an ongoing debate on Mining Act (礦業法) amendments demanded by environmental groups since March.
On March 14, Asia Cement Corporation (ACC) received approvals from the MOEA to extend its mining permit for another 20 years — despite missing environmental assessments procedures, required under the Mining Act.
On June 25, thousands of protesters marched to the Executive Yuan requesting a reassessment on the permit for ACC and amendments to the Mining Act. They also protested for indigenous land rights and demanded that government’s environmental assessment reports be made public. [FULL STORY]
