Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday met farmers and residents of a small community in Changhua County to find a solution to a controversial plan to expropriate land to make room for the fourth-phase expansion project at the Central Taiwan Science Park.
Sitting down with residents of Siangsihliao (相思寮), in Erlin Township (二林), Wu presented a proposal to the three villages, which, occupying a total of 3 hectares, comprise Siangsihliao. Wu said the 28 households currently there would be preserved, while plots of land of the same size would be provided elsewhere so farmers could continue cultivating.
After the closed-door meeting, resident Yang Yu-chou (楊玉洲) told reporters that while he was happy to keep the house where he had lived for more than 60 years, he still had some concerns.
“I don’t know if it was an empty promise. They said they would give us new plots of land in exchange for our farmland, but the [new] site is a low-lying area that is prone to flooding,” Yang said.
The fourth phase of the science park, where it is hoped companies in the semiconductor, optoelectronic and precision machinery sectors will establish their operations, has been a source of controversy since the Environmental Protection Administration conditionally approved its environmental impact assessment in November last year.
The Taipei High Administrative Court recently ruled in favor of environmentalists and residents, some of whom oppose the government’s expropriation of their farmland, demanding a halt to all development activities pending rulings on two ongoing lawsuits related to the project.
The government has appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court.
Chen Wen-chung (陳文忠), another farmer, said he worried about pollution from park factories.
“In the beginning, when the government launched the project, they told us the science park would not cause any pollution. When they realized we didn’t want to move, they said: ‘Aren’t you worried about the pollution?’” he said. “Will the science park produce pollution or not?”
Huang Yuan (黃媛), a 74-year-old farmer, said Wu’s proposal “seemed fine,” but she was not sure whether her three sons would agree to it.
Changhua County Commissioner Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源), who also attended the meeting, said the five residents who were present agreed to the proposal by signing their names.
However, the Self-Help Association of Siangsihliao saw things differently, with spokesman Lin Le-hsin (林樂昕) saying later in a press release that the five residents had had no choice but to sign.
“At the meeting, Chen Wen-chung said the government should give them some time to consider the proposal and to discuss it with the other residents who were unable to attend, but Wu rejected the request and asked them to sign there and then,” Lin said.
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