Farming activists and farmers from Wanbao Borough (灣寶) in Houlong Township (後龍), Miaoli County, yesterday urged Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) to uphold his promise to them by turning down Miaoli County’s request to extend the deadline for submitting a revised industrial park project.
“Wu promised us that special agricultural areas would be excluded from being designated sites of industrial parks. He should uphold the promise and turn down the Miaoli County Government plan,” Wanbao Self-Help Association chairman Chen Hsin-hsiung (陳信雄) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan. “In a democracy like Taiwan, should the central government listen to the public or listen to the county government?”
The Construction and Planning Agency later last night said it would reject the Miaoli County Government’s request for a two to three-month extension of the deadline and asked the county government to submit all necessary documents within 10 days.
In a meeting with Wanbao farmers last year amid controversy over the development of farmland, Wu promised to exclude special farming areas from being used to construct industrial zones. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄) confirmed that Wu had made the promise, adding that it would be the government’s policy direction from then on.
Although Wanbao is a farming village once designated by the Council of Agriculture as a “special agricultural area” because of the quality of its produce, the Miaoli County Government decided years ago to build an industrial park that would include Wanbao and some neighboring villages.
After years of protest by locals, farming activists and environmentalists, the county government decided to respond by shrinking the size of the planned industrial park last year.
However, since the majority — about 70 percent — of locals are still opposed to the project, the county government asked the Ministry of the Interior to extend the Dec. 30 deadline for submitting the revised project as it tries to “negotiate” with landowners.
“There’s really no need for further negotiation because none of us would agree to give up our lands,” Wanbao Community Development Association chairwoman Hung Hsiang (洪箱) said. “We want to keep our lands because we want to pass them to our children and grandchildren.”
A seventy-something local farmer surnamed Wu (吳) said he still works in the fields every day.
“We won’t get rich by growing watermelon, vegetables, peanuts or rice, but at least we could live well without having to get money from our children,” he said.
“With the average salaries so low elsewhere, it would be a big burden for our children to have to feed us while also having to feed their own families and pay their mortgages,” he said.
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