Asia Cement Sneaks Through Extension on Eve of Mining Act Amendment; Ministry of Economic Affairs Escorts Development, Extending Term by Twenty Years
To prevent operators from sneaking through on the eve of the Mining Act amendment and forcibly obtaining mining rights extensions, the Legislative Yuan's Economics Committee passed a proposal on the 20th requiring the Ministry of Economic Affairs to suspend approval of mining rights extensions within half a year. Yet yesterday it was suddenly reported that Asia Cement, which has been mining the mountains of Hualien for decades, had already obtained a 20-year extension, causing an uproar. Multiple legislators sharply criticized the Mining Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, saying that besides forcibly escorting the conglomerate, it was also openly defying the Legislature, and demanded that the Ministry of Economic Affairs immediately revoke the extension permit, otherwise they would not let the matter rest.
Ignoring Legislative Constraints, the Mining Bureau Forces the Approval Through
Regarding the amendment of the old overbearing clauses of the Mining Act, Pan Cheng-cheng, a specialist at the Citizens of the Earth Foundation, pointed out that multiple legislators had expressed that a cross-party consensus had been reached and the Economics Committee had already scheduled a review. Therefore, when the Mining Act was reviewed on the 20th, the Mining Bureau was required to report to the Legislative Yuan. Unexpectedly, the Mining Bureau had already forced the approval through, completely ignoring the binding force of the Legislative Yuan's proposal.
In response, legislator Lin Shu-fen pointed out that during the report, the Mining Bureau on the surface promised to suspend approval of mining rights extensions for all companies, yet as early as the 14th it had swiftly approved Asia Cement's marble mining rights extension of up to 399 hectares in Xincheng and Xiulin Townships, Hualien County. This act was undoubtedly defying the Legislature and openly lying. Moreover, before the extension case was decided, the operator's existing mining rights would not be affected, nor would its rights be damaged. But the Ministry of Economic Affairs let Asia Cement pass in what was called the "shortest in history" time of only 3.5 months, covering an area of nearly 400 hectares. Compared with other mines that need to spend more than 20 months to apply for less than one hectare, Asia Cement's case clearly has problems and is very detestable.
In addition, legislator Kao Chih-peng also sharply criticized that the Director-General of the Mining Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs had served for 20 years, with a tenure approaching that of Chiang Ching-kuo, yet used the fastest speed to approve Asia Cement's extension, not only monopolizing the authority over Mining Act amendments and the establishment and extension of various cases, but also openly lying in the Legislature and deceiving legislators. To achieve environmental sustainability and transitional justice for energy and national territory, he called on the Ministry of Economic Affairs to immediately revoke this extension permit.
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