Led by elected officials of different political parties, around 6,000 residents of Hualien staged protests in downtown Taipei yesterday to demand the immediate building of the freeway.

But young people, including students from the same county, also stepped up a campaign voicing their opposition to its construction.

Led by legislators Fu Kun-chi of the opposition People First Party and Lu Po-chi of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, Hualien County Council Speaker Yang Wen-chi and representatives of the tourism sector, the protesters started their journey to Taipei at around 6 a.m. aboard more than 150 coaches.

The fleet of coaches was scheduled to arrive at the plaza outside the Presidential Office at 11:30 a.m. but did not arrive until 1:30 p.m. due to the poor road conditions of the existing Suhua Highway.

An organizer of the protest said that this was exactly why Hualien people want to fight for a freeway with traffic flows that would not be so easily disrupted.

He was referring to the fact that the Suhua Highway built mainly on the edge of cliffs is vulnerable to disruptions whenever there are heavy rains, typhoons or landslides.

The Hualien residents unfurled protest banners and shouted slogans on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office before moving to the Executive Yuan and the Environmental Protection Administration to highlight their cause.

The protesters clashed briefly with police who barred them from issuing an appeal to Premier Su Tseng-chang at his office in the Cabinet building.

No one was injured, officials said.

Both Lu and Fu urged the government to start construction work immediately. They blasted the government for going to eastern Taiwan only when it wants cement, gravel or military bases.

The only humble wish of the Hualien residents is a freeway that can allow uninterrupted traffic flow around the clock, they said.

They also said that the only highway — the Suhua Highway — has been rated by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications as an F-level perilous road.

Hualien’s misery index and divorce rate topped the 25 cities and counties around the country as the high jobless rate and the slumping economy have been ignored by the government, they added.

Tien Chi-shuen, chief of Chian village in Hualien, said there are three north-south freeways, 14 east-west expressways and a high-speed train in western Taiwan, but not even one in eastern Taiwan.

Another protester cited the exceptionally high traffic accident figures on the current Suhua Highway: more than 1,000 killed or injured in the past 40 years.

But those opposing the building of the freeway did not sit idle yesterday. The Hualien students called a news conference in Taipei to convey their objection to the project.

Yang Chi-huan, a member of the Youth Action Alliance, said they launched an online petition in early March to protect their homeland from being polluted by the proposed freeway.

Nearly 25,000 people have signed up in less than two months to back their cause.

Yang said the alliance has solicited the support of more than 300 private groups, adding that they will mobilize more Hualien youngsters and private groups to join their cause.

Another member, Tsai Chung-yueh, said they support the development of Hualien, but not through a freeway because no one can predict its impact on the ecology.

The Suhua Freeway was one of the many platforms of President Chen Shui-bian when he first campaigned for the presidency in 2000 and again in 2004.

But the project never gets started. The 89-km freeway would pass through 11 tunnels that could undermine underground water resources and other natural resources, according to environmental protection groups.

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