May 04--TAIPEI (The China Post/ANN) -- Environmental authorities have ordered a beach resort in Kenting to suspend operations and expansion after learning that it has never undergone a mandatory government assessment of its impact to the environment, officials said yesterday.

The Yoho Beach Resort at Wanlitong inside the Kenting National Park said it will decide what to do after receiving the official notification of the ban from the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).

Yoho has established itself as a major resort in Kenting, Pingtung County since opening in 1999.

But the EPA said it only found out recently that Yoho was never assessed for its impact on the environment -- a process that is mandatory for a development project of its size inside the national park.

The EPA order means that Yoho must suspend its business and stop any expansion project pending the environmental assessment.

Environmental activists described Yoho as another Miramar Resort, a major development project that started construction at Shanyuan Beach in Taitung without clearing an environmental impact assessment.

EPA Minister Stephen Shen admitted that his administration was at fault for the oversight, but maintained that the Kenting park management and Pingtung County Government should have monitored any project under their direct jurisdiction.

Shen said it is now up to the park administration and county government to decide whether the existing structures of Yoho should be demolished.

The county government said it had previously slapped Yoho with maximum fines twice -- NT$50,000 (US$1,700) each time -- for illegal expansion.

The Kenting National Park Administration (KNPA) said there are currently six zones at Yoho, but only two of them have permits to run hotel accommodations.

But as the resort covers an area over one hectare, the park administration said it referred the case to the EPA a month ago asking that an environmental assessment be conducted on Yoho. Since then Yoho has suspended all of its expansion projects, the KNPA said.

The KNPA said it will take action to enforce the ban on Yoho opening its doors to business after receiving the EPA's formal notification.

Yoho received a permit to construct hotels on part of its premises in the late 1990s before the government passed the environmental law in 2000 requiring that such major development projects be examined for their impact on the environment.

Yoho continued to expand without obtaining hotel construction permits for the new additions, or passing an environmental assessment.

In 2008, the KNPA asked the EPA to determine whether Yoho needed to go through environmental assessment. The EPA replied it should, but no move was made until last month.

Yoho is a popular resort with holidaygoers. It sponsored the production of director Ang Lee's awarding-winning movie "Life of Pi" by providing accommodation for the film crew.

Environmental activists said many resort and theme park projects in Taiwan have been major risks to the environment, including Miramar Resort in Taitung.

The Miramar project was almost complete when environmental issues forced it to suspend construction.

Miramar distanced itself from the Yoho row, saying the two cases are different. It maintained that its previous misunderstanding of the law caused its violation of environmental regulations.

But it is now ready to resume construction after the Taitung government gave it conditional approval concerning the environmental assessment late last year, it said.

The activists said they will continue their actions to block the Miramar project.

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