More than 4,000 members of irrigation associations and 151 academics have backed a proposal to convert the associations into government bodies, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday.
Lawmakers are scheduled to review the council’s draft amendment to the Organic Regulations for Irrigation and Water Conservancy Associations (農田水利會組織通則) as part of the extraordinary legislative session now underway.
The change would allow the council to expand the coverage of irrigation systems from 310,000 hectares of agricultural land to 680,000 hectares, Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
The council would guarantee the sector’s access to irrigation water, instead of allowing the economic sector to appropriate it, he said.
Members of the 17 irrigation associations nationwide would become government officials if the proposal is passed and enjoy the same benefits as other civil servants, he said.
Several academics were invited by Chen to defend the plan, an apparent reaction to a petition launched by former Council of Agriculture minister Chen Pao-chi (陳保基) and other academics last week against the draft amendment.
Agricultural water resources would be better planned if managed by the government, former COA minister Lee Ching-lung (李金龍) said as he presented a petition signed by 151 academics to Chen.
“However, as the disposal of the associations’ properties has sparked so much discussion, the government should clarify how it would budget the construction of irrigation facilities in areas outside the existing irrigation systems,” Lee said.
Chairpersons or staff representing eight associations in Taoyuan’s Shihmen Township (石門), Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Nantou, Changhua and Pingtung counties expressed their support for the restructuring plan and presented a petition with the signatures of more than 4,000 association members.
The government can crack down on illegal factories on farmland, said Yang Ming-feng (楊明風), chairperson of Taiwan Chia-nan Irrigation Association, which manages more than 75,000 hectares in Chiayi and Tainan, the most of any assocation.
At a separate event hosted by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, former Taoyuan Irrigation Association head Lee Tsung-chi (李總集) said the irrigation associations had been formed by donations from the private sector and have an aggregate value in the trillions of New Taiwan dollars.
The government should not forcibly expropriate the associations’ private property, Lee said.
The properties would still remain under the associations as judicial persons, Environmental Rights Foundation Association lawyer Kuo Hung-yi (郭鴻儀) said when asked for comment.
However, another issue for the government would emerge if the associations used some properties that are registered under individual accounts, Kuo said.
While the agriculture sector’s water supply might be protected after the restructuring, it is uncertain whether the Executive Yuan would sacrifice it to the economic sector’s needs in an emergency, he said, adding more thorough planning on water is needed.
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