Construction of a channel to draw water from irrigation systems in Changhua County for the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) is continuing despite a government order that it be stopped, farmers from Changhua County’s Sijhou Township (溪州) and activists said yesterday.
Last week, National Science Council Minister Cyrus Chu (朱敬一) and Vice Minister Ho Cheng-hong (賀陳弘) announced at separate settings to lawmakers and local farmers that the council had ordered a stop to a project to draw water from Cizaipijun (莿仔埤圳) — the most important irrigation system in southern Changhua County.
The officials said the water channel, meant for the science park’s Erlin Campus, located in Changhua County’s Erlin Township (二林), was being halted because construction of the campus was not going as smoothly as planned.
Photo: CNA
However, local farmers found that work on the water channel was still ongoing as of Sunday.
“Chu said on March 21 that he had put a stop to the construction of the water channel earlier this month, but the fact is the construction is still going on,” Taiwan Rural Front spokesperson Tsai Pei-huei (蔡培慧) told a press conference at the legislature. “Apparently, either the government is lying to us or it has no power to tell a construction firm what to do.”
A video filmed by farming activists in Sijhou, which shows ongoing construction of the water channel, was shown during the news conference.
In the video, an unidentified construction worker said his crew were ordered by the construction firm’s management to continue with the work “because the project is still ongoing.”
Another construction worker said they were asked to stop working when lawmakers, accompanied by Hong, visited the site.
“We were asked to stop because there was opposition to it,” the worker said. “It was really troublesome because we had to move all the machines and tools away, and then move them back here again to continue afterward.”
Construction of the Erlin Campus sparked controversy from the moment it was announced in 2008. First, farmers in Erlin launched a prolonged protest against the seizure of their farmland and then farmers from Sijhou and neighboring areas protested against the plan to draw water from Cizaipijun.
Hsieh Pao-yuan (謝寶元), a local farmer, said Changhua County was one of the largest agricultural production areas in the nation and hundreds of thousands of people in the area made their living from agriculture.
“By taking water away from the irrigation system, the government is killing the hundreds of thousands of people who make a living through agriculture,” Hsieh said. “And they’re doing so only for the interests of a few.”
He said the government was lying.
“How can you tell us and the lawmakers that you’ve ordered a stop to the construction, while it’s clear that it’s still happening?” he said.
Another Sijhou farmer, Tsai Li-yueh (蔡麗月), said the government was acting like a thief and she teared up when describing her sense of helplessness in the face of what the government was doing.
Liao Pen-chuan (廖本全), an associate professor at National Taipei University’s department of real estate and built environment, showed a photograph of a construction permit — required to be put on display at any construction site — that he took on Sunday.
The document, dated March 25, shows the ongoing construction involved “steel sheet piling.”
“CTSP administration director-general Yang Wen-ke (楊文科) says the construction we still see going on is to finish up and restore the construction site to its original status,” Liao said. “But how can ‘steel sheet piling’ be part of the restoration process?”
“The government should bring the Erlin Campus project to a complete end, openly apologize for what’s going on and penalize those who are responsible,” Liao said.
When asked to comment on the activists’ statements, Yang said he needed to look further into what was going on before saying anything on the matter.
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