Roh seeks reclamation changes

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Roh seeks reclamation changes

President Roh Moo-hyun yesterday said that the Saemangeum reclamation project should be resumed “as soon as possible.” He ordered the ministries involved in the project to find ways to address the ecological problems that led a court to suspend construction work on Tuesday. Mr. Roh also accepted the resignation of Agriculture Minister Kim Young-jin yesterday after failing to persuade him to reconsider.
The president asked his cabinet to come up with measures by next week to prevent erosion of the soil and sand embankments being built as part of the project; that erosion risk is especially severe now that the typhoon season has arrived. Also recognizing the danger, the Seoul Administrative Court amended its order of a halt to construction to allow such embankment protection work to continue.
The reclamation project aims to convert 40,000 hectares (98,800 acres) of tidal marshland in North Jeolla province to farmland and other uses.
“President Roh ordered his chief of staff, Moon Hee-sang, to minimize the project’s suspension period and resume as soon as possible,” said Yoon Tai-young, the Blue House spokesman. He quoted the president as saying, “The Saemangeum project should be revised to heighten its environmental friendliness and economic feasibility for the swift implementation of a new blueprint for the project.” He added, “Whatever changes are made to the project should be done in a way that fulfills the hopes and expectations of the residents of North Jeolla province.”
The administrative court will probably make a final decision on the project in three months. It ordered the temporary halt of work pending that decision in language that suggested the presiding judge is sympathetic to environmental group’s concerns about damage to the region’s ecology.
“The Seoul Administrative Court’s decision is based on the existing Saemangeum blueprint,” Mr. Yoon, the Blue House spokesman, told reporters. “The president is urging that new plans for the reclamation project be refined and submitted to the court before the final ruling.”
Many residents of North Jeolla province yesterday welcomed the president’s intervention, but some also tried to head off any scaling-back of the project. Governor Kang Hyon-wook of North Jeolla province complained, “The Saemangeum reclamation project would lose its economic feasibility if it is downsized.”


by Choi Hoon
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