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January 03, 2008
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| Saying it will destroy natural habitats, more than 180 civic groups yesterday announced their opposition to President-elect Lee Myung-bak’s plan to build a grand canal from Seoul to Busan. The groups, including the country’s largest environmental organization, the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, issued a joint release saying the canal plan should be left to the voters to decide through a national referendum. Lee’s transition team announced Tuesday that the head of its grand canal task force team met with the heads of five domestic construction companies last month to discuss the project. “Pushing the canal plan through without thoroughly reviewing it will only anger the public and create more social conflict,” the groups said in the statement. They have been running anti-canal ads in newspapers since September. “The transition team should abolish its canal task force team and instead install an inspection team that will give the public a chance to say what they really think about the canal project,” the statement said. Kang Seung-kyoo, Lee’s deputy spokesman, said the sole reason for the task force team’s existence is to review the project thoroughly before putting any plans into action. “We got opposition when we were building Cheonggye Stream,” he said. “But it turned out to be harmless.” “We knew we were going to hear from experts and civic groups before even starting this project,” Kang said. By Lee Min-a Staff Reporter [mina@joongang.co.kr] |
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