Plans to move Dalinpu Village (大林蒲) in Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港) hit another setback after villagers on Tuesday said they would not attend Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin’s (沈榮津) June 21 presentation if the ministry fails to provide a clear relocation plan.
The government planned to move the village, along with Hongmaogang Village (紅毛港), in 2016, as it has gradually been surrounded by more than 800 industrial stacks owned by China Steel Corp, Taiwan Power Co and CPC Corp, Taiwan, as well as others.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) yesterday invited Shen to discuss the issue in the June 21 meeting after villagers on Wednesday last week protested what they said was an illegal attempt by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to restrict people from attending a June 30 presentation.
Photo: Hung Chen-hung, Taipei Times
The ministry said that it limited attendance to meet disease prevention guidelines, and that it originally said that groups, villages and boroughs could send a representative to control the number of attendees.
The central government allocated NT$94 million (US$3.16 million) in 2017 and NT$184 million in 2018 for a census on villagers’ intent to relocate, with 90 percent agreeing to the move, Lai said.
It last year allocated NT$16.4 million to facilitate the relocation, along with NT$12.3 million annually from this year to 2023, Lai added.
The government has negotiated a deal for a ping (3.3m2) for ping exchange rate for the relocation, Lai said.
Fongsing Borough (鳳興) Warden Hung Fu-hsien (洪富賢) on Wednesday last week said that it was ridiculous for the government to hold environmental assessments when the ministry had yet to provide any plans for the relocation.
The government would be able to negotiate pricing with the villagers after the assessment passed and would even be able to expropriate land, Hung said, adding that he felt the environmental assessment would render villagers helpless against the law.
The government, after a meeting in April, agreed to allow the environmental assessment to move into the second stage.
The wardens of all six boroughs in the village issued a joint statement calling for environmental assessments to stop until the specifics of the relocation have been settled.
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