Taichung City Government administration meeting was conducted in the Central District today (22nd). Mayor Chia-lung Lin reported how the City Government implemented the city administration constructions in the Central District. He indicated that Liuchuan Canal has been well renovated and highly recognized by the citizens; Luchuan Canal renovation would be completed by the Chinese New Year so the uncovered Luchuan Canal will be combined with the constructions like the grand station project, green railway framework and Taiwan Sugar Lake Garden Park etc. to call back the beautiful memories of the old residents of Taichung.

Today, the city administration meeting was held in the Central District Office. Director of Water Resources Bureau, Ting-Yen Chou has given a presentation for the brand marketing promotional plan of Luchuan Canal and Mayor Lin has reported the important construction achievements of Central District to the subdivisions. Director Chou said, after successfully renovating Liuchuan Canal, Luchuan Canal has been reborn！Luchuan Canal has experienced the era under Japanese rule and establishment of Central District so it’s a historical achievement with the meaningful human culture and history records. However, along with the urban development, the living produced untreated sewage was eliminated into it and leads to the pollution of the river badly. Therefore, the City Government has ever tried to cover the Luchuan Canal and killed its natural appearance.

Mayor Lin has facilitated the「Shin Sei Green Waterway project」 right away when he’s inaugurated to keep the memories of the citizens. He hoped to uncover the canal with the features of human cultural history and allow the people to access the water again. Then the City Government invested NT$850 million of budget to treat the 24 thousand tons of sewage and renovated the canal with the length of 600 meters. Therefore, the water quality of Luchuan Canal was improved and the more than 600 meters long river side was built to allow the visitors and citizens to access the green waterway of Luchuan Canal. When people like to take walks along the waterway, the commercial activities in Central District will be facilitated.

Director Chou explained, the construction of 「Shin Sei Green Waterway project」was through the drainages by the droughts, draining the sewage during sunny days, rock-filtered quality improvement of water and flood prevention drainage engineering etc. to improve the water quality of Luchuan Canal. All the aforementioned constructions were completed. The last landscaping works will be completed by the Chinese New Year and open then to provide the citizens a comfortable and people friendly waterfront space.

Also, the City Government has designed to LOGO of Luchuan Canal and based on the old town culture of Central District with the unique atmosphere of Kyoto junior during the era under Japanese rule. With the special brand image with the face of the old history, we expect to build the brand of Luchuan Canal river side and plan the Luchuan Canal centered exhibitions and exclusive branding website to elevate the culture and creativity values of Luchuan Canal.

Director Chou mentioned, following the completion of Luchuan Canal renovation at the section of 「Shuangshi Road to Minquan Road」, the City Government has continuously promoted the 「2nd stage of Luchuan Canal」renovation construction for the overall management of the river；the section of「Fuxing Road to Aiguo Street」 has been subsidized by the central government and the other parts are still waiting to be included in the water environmental construction item of Foresight Taiwan project initiated by Executive Yuan. It’s estimated to have NT$1,383.5 million of investment to be allocated to the full range of Luchuan Canal renovation by installments of three years until 2020.

Mayor Lin said, ha has expressed his determination,「If the Central District cannot be renovated, he would not be a qualified mayor.」 when he’s inaugurated as the Mayor. During these three years as the Mayor, he has made the Liuchuan Canal renovated successfully and won the recognition of the citizens. 「Shin Sei Green Waterway project」is going to be completed and will be the next one. When the Luchuan Canal is uncovered in the future, combined with the grand station project, green railway framework and Taiwan Sugar Lake Garden Park etc., the citizens would be reminded of the beautiful memories of the old towns in Taichung.

Mayor Lin pointed out that the brand LOGO of Luchuan Canal is the first「registered trademark」in Taiwan. It’s a river side brand with the old town culture of Central District as the background and with the design of the old look of Luchuan Canal which reflects the new value of Luchuan Canal. Everyone like it very much so the Luchuan Canal brand will have further collaborations or alliances with the commercial stores in the neighborhood and the other industries to integrate the art and culture, tourism, food and services industries for facilitating the economic activities in Central District.

He has recognized that the Luchuan Canal renovation and the sun-moon lake in Taichung Park have been completed with the flood prevention management and river side environmental construction by connecting the drought drainages, sun-moon lake water bank and Futien water resources center to have the thorough management of the drainage area. And the City Government is promoting the Grand station project to extend the line to the sky to release more green free space for the people to walk, ride the bikes and the touring shuttles operations, then the visitors won’t need to drive but can still easily travel around and enjoy the beauty of Central District.

Councilor Ming-chen Ho and Jou-guo Chiang attended the city administration meeting today and concerned about local development. They recognized the City Government for the great efforts on the Central District constructions and they believed Shin sei green waterway will reinvigorate under the continuous efforts of the City Government. They hope the City Government can expand the constructions to the old town area of South, West and East Districts to develop the local regions and make those area prosperous.

Deputy Mayor Ling-San Lin indicated, the construction of the Luchuan Canal drainage area was not just for the waterway but also for the renovation of the sun-moon lake in Taichung Park to clean up the sludges and the droughts’ renovations. In addition to the water quality improvement of Luchuan Canal, the flood prevention is the first priority so the City Government has made a lot of efforts to improve the bottle neck of flood prevention and increase the box culverts to build a safe water environment for preserve the historical construction 「Zhongshan green bridge」.

Deputy Mayor Guan-yao Chang was born and grew in the Central District so he is deeply touched by the transformation of Luchuan Canal. He wishes everyone would work with the City Government to make the old towns in West, East and South Districts to become better in addition to Central District during next 4 years. (1/22*7)*Research,Development and Evaluation Commission

Contact person:Ms. Huang, Research,Development and Evaluation Commission, Taichung City Government

Contact telephone number:04-22289111 ext. 21205