Activists protest digging up of shrubs
Taipei Times(from CNA) 2010.01.20 Vincent Y.Chao／台北報導
A mechanical digger stands near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, where a large number of juniper shrubs are being dug up as part of a beautification project. The project has provoked strong protests from environmental groups.
Environmental activists and local residents gathered in front of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall yesterday morning to express their outrage over a beautification project by the memorial’s management.
Standing beside dozens of Dragon juniper shrubs that had already been bagged up for transport, activists held up banners asking authorities to stop construction and re-plant the uprooted trees.
Green Party representatives taking part in the protest said there used to be about 70 of the 5m-high shrubs planted next to the memorial’s southern and northern main gates, but 20 have been removed for replanting elsewhere.
“Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) has implemented [a series] of beautification projects, but what he is really doing is cutting down 30 to 50-year-old trees to make room for grass and flowers,” party spokesman Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) said.
Activists said the project was illegal because the memorial has been listed as a temporary historical building and its management did not submit their beautification proposal to Taipei City’s cultural bureau for approval, as required by the law.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilor Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) said she would ask the bureau to hand down hefty fines if the allegations proved to be true.
The chief of the memorial’s landscaping division, Hwa Pin-rong (花炳榮), said that the removal of the shrubs was part of the management’s long-term effort to beautify the area. She said that the shrubs would eventually be replaced by flowers, gardens and other trees.
The project to scheduled to be completed in March.
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