The China Post
Date: August 31, 2016
By: Sun Hsin Hsuan
TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Cabinet insisted Tuesday that students transfer from a Yunlin County school
Parents of students at the Syucuo (許厝) branch of Ciaotou Elementary School in Yunlin’s Mailiao Township protest outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei on Tuesday, Aug. 30. Parents objected to a Cabinet order to transfer their children away from the tiny school, which is located in proximity to the sixth naphtha refinery. (CNA)
over fears of toxic chemical exposure, despite a protest outside the Executive Yuan.
The order to transfer students was made due to fears about exposure to potentially hazardous pollution from the nearby Sixth Naptha Refinery operated by Formosa Plastic Group (FPG).
Hundreds of protestors had threatened to stay outside until the government provided convincing solutions.
Around 300 protesters wearing yellow headbands — many of them parents of students at the affected Ciaotou Elementary School’s Syucuo branch — arrived at the Executive Yuan from Maoliao Township on Tuesday morning.
Chanting “No school transfers! Return the right to education! Give us the truth!” they marched from a nearby location to the Executive Yuan’s main entrance.
They demanded the school transfer order be implemented only if authorities could provide concrete evidence that the campus’s location was harmful to students’ health.
Ten representatives of the protesters eventually secured a meeting with government officials, including Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) and Environmental Protection Administration Deputy Minister Thomas Chan (詹順貴). [FULL STORY]