Suao-Hualien Highway only partially opens

Workers cleared out a 3m-wide path across a broken section of the highway, which was supported by steal beams, and bags stuffed with shredded wood to re-open the highway four days ahead of schedule.

Motorists intending to travel on the highway should beware of the DGH’s restrictions regarding the road’s readiness, at least one week in advance.

Passenger cars — two- and four-door vehicles — are permitted on the highway, while tour buses and large-size trucks are not.

In addition, the repaired section of the highway, near the 147.1 kilometer mark, will only be open for ten minutes every hour on the hour.

The Hualien County tourism industry, which has been badly hit by Sepat, voiced dissatisfaction over the conditional opening of the Suao-Hualien Highway, Hualien’s only link to the northern counties.

A Hualien County tourism association president said that the re-opened highway is equivalent to a closed highway, due to its inaccessibility to tour buses and large-sized commercial trucks.

A Farglory Ocean Park manager said that many of its customers arrive at the park on tour buses as part of a tour group, and that the Suao-Hualien Highway’s current inaccessibility to tour buses only benefits Hualien tourism to a limited extent.

The chief executive of a farmers’ association in Hualien County said that commercial trucks’ inability to access the highway will increase the cost of transporting fruits and vegetables to markets in Taipei.

In the aftermath of Sepat, papaya and banana farmers in Chiayi County are complaining they will not receive subsidies from the central government, despite having suffered heavy losses.

Agricultural losses in Chiayi County due to Sepat were estimated by the county government at NT$70 million, short of the NT$200 million standard needed for central government subsidies.

However, a farmer’s association in Chongpu township, Chiayi County said that papaya and banana crop losses were estimated at NT$190 million.

The association said that it had reached the figure after calculating the area of the orchards affected and the estimated 30 to 40 percent loss in papaya and banana crops.

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