An online petition has been launched against draft amendments to the Soil and Water Conservation Act (水土保持法) proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which aims to strip the government of the right to review soil and water conservation engineering applications.
DPP Legislator Shih Yi-fang (施義芳), who is also director of the Taiwan Professional Civil Engineers Association, on July 14 put forward draft amendments to permit only four kinds of associations specializing in water and soil conservation, civil engineering, hydraulics or geotechnical engineering to review conservation project applications and remove the final approval right from the government.
All development projects on slopes and hilly areas are currently required to propose a water and soil conservation plan to be reviewed by local governments or the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, which can outsource the review to any of the four association types, as well as academics and professionals.
The results are then reviewed and approved by local governments or the bureau.
Shih said his proposal is intended to prevent a conflict of interest, because the Chinese Soil and Water Conservation Society director is also the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau director and is therefore able to secure construction projects from local governments.
However, Shih’s proposal prompted heated criticism, because the draft amendments would only benefit the four associations.
A coalition of environmental groups launched a campaign on Tuesday to block the legislation, which they said would allow developers to avoid government oversight and benefit a few particular organizations, while the draft amendment would decrease the quality of conservation during construction.
Taiwan Environmental Information Association secretary-general Chen Juei-pin (陳瑞賓) yesterday said that the campaign had collected 258 signatures so far, and the association planned to accelerate the campaign next week.
Taiwan Environmental Protection Union secretary-general Chen Bing-heng (陳秉亨) said Shih met with environmental groups yesterday and told them he was willing to revise the draft amendments following discussion with governments and environmentalists.
Environmental groups were generally satisfied with Shih’s willingness to communicate and improve public involvement in supervising conservation projects, he said.
“Many constructions and water and soil conservation engineering projects are flawed because there are problems with the reviewing system. My idea was to establish a separate review mechanism independent of government agencies to avoid unprofessional handling and conflicts of interest. However, I do not insist on my draft amendments,” Shih said.
The draft proposal would be revised pending discussions with government agencies and environmental groups, Shih said, adding that another aim of revising the act is hold government officials responsible for flawed projects they have reviewed.
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