Minister of Education Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗) said yesterday that safety, rather than haggling over land rights, should be the first consideration when a plot of land is chosen to relocate Neihu Elementary School (NES, 內湖國小) in Nantou County.
"If the chosen property is a suitable spot for the school to be constructed, the MOE will help in the procedures. Otherwise, school authorities should keep looking until a suitable plot is found," said Tzeng after visiting both the damaged elementary school campus and a plot of land in Yushuikeng (
However, the Yushuikeng site is currently owned by the Administration Bureau of the Experimental Forest of National Taiwan University (
Conflicting interests have spurred heated debates since the idea was first brought up in February.
"Originally, there were two options for us: rebuilding the campus or relocating," said Neihu elementary's principle, Fang Hsi-ching (
"After evaluation, [school authorities] decided to move the school on the grounds that the current location is too small and also the complexity of the current proprietorship of the school property -- including individuals and governmental organizations -- makes any rebuilding very troublesome.
"Therefore we intend to find another piece of land with less complex ownership circumstances."
After a long search, the two-acre plot in Yushuikeng was considered the most suitable property.
Obtaining Yushuikeng of course requires NTU's consent. Nonetheless, NTU has not been supportive of the idea for numerous causes.
"First of all, there is a serious security concern ? The area has been assessed as being particularly susceptible to mudflows according to a report released by the Council of Agriculture and National Cheng Kung University's Disaster Prevention Research Center. I have been issuing great warnings, but they do not seem to care," said NTU's professor of geology, Chen Hong-yu (
Wang Ya-nan (
"The spot is just not ideal for an elementary school. In addition, what about the pines that have grown there for more than 25 years?
"How can we cut down precious trees for the sake of constructing a school?"
Neihu elementary chose the property solely because it thought it could get the property for less money because the land is owned by the government, she said.
Listening to disparate views from both sides, Tzeng told the Taipei Times that all the arguments and distrust were unnecessary.
"What's more essential is to find a fitting place for children, whose safety should be considered first," he added.
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