Lawmakers on the Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee yesterday asked the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) to convene an interdepartmental meeting to come up with measures to better regulate campsites nationwide.
The committee was scheduled to review an amendment to the Act for the Development of Tourism (發展觀光條例) proposed by New Power Party Legislator Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸) and 15 other lawmakers, which would make the Tourism Bureau the main regulator of camping activities.
The bureau would oversee the safety of campsites as well as campsite operators, the proposed amendment says.
The nation has nearly 2,000 campsites and the industry’s annual output exceeds NT$4 billion (US$133.65 million), Hung said, citing Camping Association data.
However, most of the campsites do not have licenses to develop or build facilities in forests or nature reserves, she said.
“The way campsite operators run their businesses is similar to that of hoteliers, but the former does not have a set of rules to follow,” Hung said.
The ministry should meet with other government agencies to stipulate supplementary regulations for campsite operators so that the rights of campers can be protected, she said.
However, the proposed amendment was rejected by the ministry, which said changes would not resolve the problems.
Changes in the registered purpose of land would be the first issue that needs to be addressed to help campsite operators run a legal operation, MOTC Deputy Minister Chi Wen-chung (祁文中) said, adding that about 84 percent of campsites are built on properties where camping is not permitted.
The properties include farmland, pastures, forests and hillsides.
Although the ministry proposed amending the Agricultural Development Act (農業發展條例) and Regulations for Guidance and Management of Recreational Agriculture (休閒農業輔導管理辦法) to relax the use of farmland and patures, the Council of Agriculture said that only recreational farms can have campsites built on them, adding that the land must still be registered for agricultural use.
The council said it will not change the regulations so that agriculture can be permitted at campsites.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said the bureau has authority only over the campsites built in areas under its control.
However, campsites used by boy scouts are regulated by the Ministry of Education, whereas those in soil conservation areas, recreational farms, agricultural land and forests are regulated by the Council of Agriculture, he said.
Campsites in national parks are regulated by the Ministry of the Interior, Lin said, adding that those in geographically sensitive zones are regulated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Campsites on state-owned properties are obligated to follow the rules set by the National Property Administration, he said.
The MOTC needs to quickly hold cross-departmental meetings so that campsite operators would not remain unregulated and camping would become a family leisure activity, he said.
“The Tourism Bureau said that stipulating a specific law to regulate campsites is unnecessary, because each government agency already has laws to regulate the establishment of campsites. However, they never thoroughly enforce those laws. Local governments cracking down on illegal campsites have also proven to be ineffective,” he said.
DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said an interdepartmental effort is required as it would be difficult for the bureau to manage all the nation’s campsites, because they vary in size and business models, such as campsites in Aboriginal villages or temporary campsites used during music festivals or those used by fishers.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS