Farmers and rural advocacy groups continued their campaign yesterday against water rationing plans, as the government expands its sanctions on irrigation water amid a nationwide drought.
Starting today, water sanctions are to be imposed on irrigation zones in Greater Taoyuan, Greater Tainan and Hsinchu and Chiayi counties, following water rationing in Miaoli County and Greater Taichung since late last month.
The recent series of sanctions are to be the second-largest in the nation’s history, with more than 40,000 hectares of fields affected.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Led by the Taiwan Rural Front, dozens of farmers rallied in front of the Executive Yuan in Taipei yesterday to decry what they said was an unequal distribution of water resources for industrial and agricultural use, adding that the sanctions “infringe on the integrity and rights of farmers.”
National Chengchi University professor Hsu Hsih-jung (徐世榮) said that according to the regulations established by the Water Resources Agency, industrial as well as non-industrial sectors should shoulder water sanctions together.
“In order to help industrial giants evade a 5 percent sanction in water usage, the government chose to decrease irrigation water for farmers by 100 percent,” Hsu said, adding that such policies only serve to “destroy agriculture.”
The activists said that institutionalized regulations should be established for the distribution of water resources in times of drought, instead of making “black box decisions that fail to account for the opinions of affected farmers.”
Liu Cheng-yu (劉政雨), 28, who runs a large farm on rented land in Hsinchu County, said the sanctions could cost his farm more than NT$10 million (US$314,000) in revenue this season.
He said that the sanctions “destroyed” the hard work of farmers and ran contrary to recent policies that have encouraged young farmers like himself to return to the countryside to work.
Taiwan Rural Front researcher Chen Ping-hsuan (陳平軒) said the group demands an official response from Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Bao-ji (陳保基) within a week.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
RSS