Environmental groups yesterday urged the Council of Agriculture (COA) and the Ministry of the Interior to clarify their procedures for the removal of illegal facilities on farmland.
Premier Lin Chuan (林全) last month said that demolishing 286 illegal factories built after May 20 last year was the government’s priority.
The Environmental Rights Foundation and other groups yesterday organized a workshop in Taipei, inviting officials to clarify their respective roles in the plan.
The agencies had decided to categorize illegal facilities built after May 20 last year into those under construction and those already built, Construction and Planning Agency senior technical specialist Yang Zhe-wei (楊哲維) said.
Developers building factories are to be required to halt construction and demolish their facilities before a given time, or the government would forcibly remove them, he said, citing the Building Act (建築法).
Owners of finished factories would face fines of between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000 (US$1,985 and US$9,927) and would also be given a deadline for removal, Yang said, adding that in line with the Regional Plan Act (區域計畫法, their electricity and water supply could be cut off if they do not obey.
The demolitions would be carried out by local governments, Yang said, adding that all the necessary regulations were in place.
Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan researcher Pan Cheng-cheng (潘正正) asked if the COA and the ministry could establish clear standards for implementation, as different agencies appeared to have applied inconsistent criteria in the past.
“We have passed our standard operating procedures to local agencies,” COA technical specialist Tang Chen-hsin (唐晨欣) said.
While demolishing a built factory could cost about NT$2 million, cutting power and water supply as a first measure is more cost-efficient, she said.
Forcible removal would follow if an owner is fined for two or three consecutive rounds, Tang said.
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The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday said it would delay the lifting of the indoor mask mandate, citing public health considerations and ongoing discussions on how the policy should be implemented. Earlier this week, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said officials from several ministries were working on the policy and an announcement would be made yesterday. However, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, yesterday said that the policy was still under review. Wang said its implementation would be “delayed slightly” due to three main factors. First, the center
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