Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislators have blocked the implementation of an amendment to the Regulations Governing the Building of Agricultural Houses on Agricultural Land (農業用地興建農舍辦法) aimed at curbing farmland speculation by placing them under legislative review, angering both activists and KMT-friendly former officials.
The regulations, which were revised and announced by the Ministry of the Interior and the Council of Agriculture last month, would restrict farmhouse construction to farmers only.
As it is an executive order, the amendment was submitted to the legislature for reference, not review.
However, the regulations were placed on legislative review during a meeting on Wednesday of the legislature’s Procedure Committee meeting. That means implementation of the new regulations can be put off or annulled, depending on the legislature’s decision.
The change was made through the proposals of 17 KMT lawmakers and the TSU caucus. The amendments now have to be reviewed by a joint meeting of the Internal Administration Committee and the Economics Committee, but no date has been set for the meeting.
Former Straits Exchange Foundation secretary-general C.V. Chen (陳長文) yesterday condemned the KMT’s action.
“With this kind of KMT legislators, is there still the need to salvage the KMT?” Chen wrote in an op-ed in the Chinese-language China Times.
Former COA minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄) said in a Facebook post that if the legislature dumped the revised regulations, “the KMT would not only lose votes, but also give away the party’s soul.”
Taiwan Rural Front researcher Chen Ping-hsuan (陳平軒) panned the legislators’ attempt as “a misappropriation of power by technically obstructing the process of legitimizing the country’s control of farmland.”
KMT Legislator Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) defended the lawmakers’ move by saying the changes “bully farmers” by allowing academics and experts to have a say in the matter of who can or cannot build farmhouses.
“How come there is no need for experts when you build factories, or tall buildings in the cities?” Chen asked, adding that there is no sense in restricting farmland to farmers, while the purchase of industrial or commercial land is not limited to workers or to businesspeople.
TSU caucus whip Lai Chen-chang (賴振昌) said the party placed the amendments under further review for different reasons from the KMT’s.
He said the legislature needed to make its stance on the issue, which has drawn wide national attention.
Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said on Thursday that Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) has asked Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Bao-ji (陳保基) to continue to communicate with lawmakers to ensure that the farmland-for-farm-use-only policy could be fully carried out.
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