Roads In High Mountains

According to the Taiwan News, there are plans to repair a section of the Central Cross-Island Highway, which has been closed since the 9-21 Earthquake of 1999.

Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo promised on Tuesday to open an access road on an earthquake-damaged section of the east-west cross-island highway in central Taiwan to allow traffic between lower Guguan and the Deji reservoir in Taichung County's Heping township.

Answering questions from Legislator Yen Ching-piao, Mao said he hopes the partial repair work will begin next year.

Yen said that re-opening the highway -- which runs through one of the country's most scenic mountain ranges -- will boost Taiwan's tourism industry, especially now that the government has decided to allow tourists from China into Taiwan from next month.

Mao said his ministry is not sure that the whole central cross-island highway can be reopened because the geological instability of the mountain region in the location of the damaged road section has made the repair work extremely difficult.

He said he could only promise that a five-kilometer access road will be completed to allow residents and farmers between lower Guguan and the Deji reservoir to have easier access to population centers.

The Highway Bureau has estimated that it will cost at least NT$10 billion (US$328 million) and take more than 10 years to repair the 24-km section totally destroyed in the 1999 earthquake.

If boosting tourism is the main goal, the money could be better spent. Picking up the trash that litters Taiwan's countryside would be a good start. Using the money to expand nature reserves, which would attract eco-tourists, should also come before road rebuilding.