The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) yesterday dismissed the possibility of the government suspending all planned land seizures before relevant laws are amended.
Vice Minister of the Interior Lin Tsyr-ling (林慈玲) told reporters at the Executive Yuan after Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) met with a number of academics and farmers’ representatives in the morning, that the academics had suggested the government halt all farmland acquisition projects and drop the plan to take over farmland in Dapu Borough (大埔), Jhunan Township (竹南), Miaoli County, before the Land Expropriation Act (土地徵收條例) is amended.
“It is impossible for the government to stop all land expropriation,” Lin said, adding that most of the government’s farmland acquisition projects were in the public’s interests and for public construction work.
“Only a few are projects to develop specific areas,” she said, adding that Wu had instructed government agencies to fully respect the voices of those who oppose the projects.
Wu said that national interest, natural resources and food security should all be taken into consideration in any development project, Lin said.
Wu invited academics and farmers to the Executive Yuan on Monday night and yesterday to listen to their views on farmland policy and to mediate between Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) and farmers over the Dapu expropriation.
The Miaoli County Government sent in excavators — with police escorts — to dig up rice paddies in Dapu last month.
Photographs and video clips of the demolitions in Dapu spread quickly on the Internet and in the media, shocking the public and finally placing a spotlight on the farmers’ years of campaigning against land expropriation.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) told reporters later yesterday she was concerned about the impact of the controversy on the party’s outlook in the November special municipality elections.
She said about 8 million Netizens had joined an online campaign to support the farmers.
Lo said the Miaoli commissioner had made a “huge” mistake in failing to consider farmers’ interests.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
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