The Control Yuan yesterday issued a correction order to the Taitung County Government for negligence in regulating farming activities in Taitung-Hualien Longitudinal Valley (花東縱谷), leading to overfarming and deforestation in many areas.
The report said that slopes in the valley that were once covered with rich vegetation have been reduced to barren landscapes due to unregulated and extensive farming, which was largely caused by rampant ginger growing due to rising market prices for the crop.
Ginger is susceptible to soft rot disease, which is particularly prone to occur with continuous cultivation, so a plot is often abandoned after each harvest, causing slopes in the valley to be overdeveloped, the report said.
Common illegal practices of ginger farming see farmers submit an application for a minor development that has a minimal conservation impact, but then overdevelop an area after acquiring approval, the report said.
“The county government was not unaware of such illegal practices, but it did not duly perform inspections demanded by the Soil and Water Conservation Act (水土保持法), creating a loophole for violators and encouraging potential violators,” the report said.
A total of 399 violations of slope development have been confirmed and punished over the past five years, which damaged 215.53 hectares of land, but that did not make the county government step up control efforts, as it inspected only 0.48 percent of the development projects it approved during construction, while post-construction inspection was conducted at a rate of 33.84 percent, which allowed farmers to illegally develop slope areas without coming under scrutiny, the report said.
Investigations were often delayed following reports of suspected violations, with some delayed for months, causing the government to miss the opportunity to immediately stop illegal activities.
“The dereliction of duty [on the part of the Taitung County Government] was clearly evident, causing it to be unable to stop unauthorized development of the county’s hilly terrain,” the report said.
Yanping Township Office (延平) was also issued a correction, because it ignored and failed to report illegal devegetation and growing of ginger and pineapples on two plots — owned by township officials and their relatives — that were clearly visible from the township office.
As the maximum fine for violation of the Soil and Water Conservation Act is NT$300,000, which is negligible compared with the profits obtained through illegal farming, Control Yuan members asked the Council of Agriculture to instruct local governments to cite the Administrative Penalty Act (行政罰法), which allows authorities to raise fines in proportion to illegal gains regardless of fine limits.
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