《TAIPEI TIMES》 Keelung mayor regrets Cabinet blocking vote

NO LOCAL REFERENDUM: Residents should be able to vote on a planned gas terminal, George Hsieh said, after the Cabinet said such a vote would have no legal basis

By Lu Hsien-hsiu, Wu Po-hsuan and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer

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Keelung Mayor George Hsieh （謝國樑） yesterday voiced regret over the Cabinet’s dismissal of the city’s proposal to hold a local referendum on state-run Taiwan Power Co’s （Taipower） plan to build Taiwan’s fourth liquefied natural gas terminal in the Waimushan （外木山） area.

Local governments should be given the authority to pursue their own environmental protection projects and fisheries affairs, and people should be given the right to vote in local referendums on such issues, he said.

Hsieh, of the of the Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT）, made the remark a day after the Protect Waimushan Action Group urged the Keelung City Government to appeal to the Judicial Yuan and the Legislative Yuan to contest the Cabinet’s dismissal.

Premier Chen Chien-jen （陳建仁） yesterday said that a referendum on such a project cannot be held on the local level, as it would fall under the central government’s purview.

However, the group vowed that it would continue to pursue its goal.

Keelung City Council Speaker Tung Tzu-wei （童子瑋） of the Democratic Progressive Party spoke out against a local referendum, saying it would turn the debate into a partisan affair.

The focus would not be on the original issue, Tung said.

Instead of seeking confrontation, all sides should engage in a dialogue on the future use of the oil-fired Hsieh-ho Power Plant, he said.

Turning it into a gas-powered facility, as planned by the operator, would help improve the air quality in the city, Tung added.

Keelung residents and the city government have the right to speak out against the project, but organizing a local referendum would not be the right way to do so, as the Constitution does not cover such votes, he said.

The Cabinet cited the Local Autonomy Act （地方自治法） when it dismissed Hsieh’s plan, Tung said, urging the city government to abide by the decision.

Taipower is planning to convert the 46-year-old Hsieh-ho Power Plant into a gas-powered facility after its operating license runs out and build a terminal to unload fuel for the plant nearby.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES