Hundreds of fruit farmers took to the streets yesterday to protest against the government's policy on land rehabilitation, arguing that they were not responsible for the deforestation that has led to numerous landslides.
"It's not that we don't support the idea of rehabilitating deforested land, but the government's policy will deprive us of our livelihoods," said Wu Lian-hsin (吳連興), president of the Taiwan Yuan-ken Association, a farmers' interest group.
After a sit-in demonstration outside the legislature drew no reaction from governmental officials, the association yesterday sent a fax to the press stating that they would set fire to themselves in protest.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The protesters brought two barrels of gasoline with them to yesterday's protest and some farmers poured substantial amounts of the fuel onto the street, tainting the air with fumes.
A violent scuffle occurred when the police attempted to seize cigarette-lighters from the protesters. A man by the name of Wu Lian-hsin said that the protest would last for at least a week if the government failed to answer the farmers' grievances.
In an attempt to address the landslide problem, the government passed regulations two years ago prohibiting the planting of fruit on land above 500m in elevation. Under the new regulations, farmers who lease their land from the Council of Agriculture's Forestry Bureau are required to replace fruits growing above that elevation with trees, and to plant at least 600 trees per hectare.
"In the past, we were allowed to plant fruits. We won't be able to make a living by growing only trees," said Yang Shou-ching (楊淑青), who grows persimmon in Taichung County's Dongshih Township (東勢鎮).
"The cost of growing trees is about ten times higher than the output value, and farmers receive a subsidy of less than NT$20,000 (US$615) per year. Without further subsidization, how can we support our families?" said Wu Jin-tsai (
The Taiwan Yuan-ken Association is asking the Forestry Bureau to reconsider its plan to unilaterally remove any fruit still grown above 500m after April 6.
"The move would affect 300,000 fruit farmers, not to mention workers in related industries such as packaging and fertilizer production," Wu Lian-hsin said.
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