The Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration releaseda documentary film Oct. 20 on three significant events that prompted the government to step up efforts to protect the environment.
“The film provides the public a chance to understand the government and private sectors’ efforts in dealing with pollution and improving the environment,” the EPA said, adding that the documentary was released as part of the ROC centennial celebrations. “We hope through the film, people from all walks of life can reflect on how to get along peacefully with the environment and further create a sustainable living environment.”
Among the three events, “Trash Bash” in the 1980s was “a lingering nightmare” for the Taiwanese. “At the time, garbage surged as the nation’s economy takes off, technology advanced and people flocked to the city,” the EPA said. “Waste disposal sites that met sanitary standards were greatly lacking, so trash was thrown in streams, mountains and seashores, resulting in severe environmental pollution.
“The segment on ‘Trash Bash’ depicts the process of how Taiwan started to construct landfill sites and incinerators, promote garbage recycling and implement garbage classification, so that the country is now ranked as one of the best places in the world in terms of recycling and garbage reduction,” the EPA explained.
Another segment revolves around an environmental disaster that occurred in 2001, when oil from a Greek oil tanker began leaking onto the coast of Kenting in southern Taiwan. “The Amorgos oil spill in Taiwan” describes the catastrophic consequences that the oil spill had on the area’s coral reefs, and how the disaster prompted the ROC government to establish a system for sea pollution crisis management and response.
The third segment shows how Typhoon Morakot of August 2009 brought unprecedented damages to southern Taiwan, prompting the government and the general public to take the threat of global warming more seriously.
The 25-minute documentary can be viewed for free at: http://media.epa.gov.tw/mm_ch/index.aspx. (HZW)
Write to Grace Kuo at morningk@mail.gio.gov.tw