Taiwan News
Date: 2016-08-19
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Tourists visiting Orchid Island could soon be forced to pay an environmental levy of between NT$200 (US$6.3) and NT$250 (US$7.9) per person, reports said Friday.

The local government of the island, located to the east of Taitung County, has decided to introduce the tax in order to fund its cleaning up of the environment and its protection of the ocean.

The move was brought on by the increase in tourists visiting the island. More than 120,000 traveled to Orchid Island, known as Lanyu in Mandarin Chinese, in 2015, local officials said, pointing at the resulting increase in garbage left behind for treatment. The island had to recruit more staff to pick up the trash and to send it back to Taiwan’s main island, increasing the cost to the local government.     [FULL  STORY]