Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers yesterday urged prosecutors to freeze the assets of an official suspected of causing a fire that ravaged more than 70 hectares of Yushan National Park in a camping mishap last month.
National Communications Commission senior specialist Joseph Chiao (喬建中) has been quoted by local media as saying that he sparked the fire on May 16 when he accidentally tipped over a gas stove.
The 12-day blaze caused significant damage to the environmental conservation zone around the Dujyuan Campground and three natural scenic areas nearby, TPP caucus secretary-general Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) told an online news conference.
Photo provided by the Taiwan People’s Party
Although Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) pledged to hold the culprits accountable, prosecutors have not filed an injunction to prevent Chiao and his fellow hikers from liquidating their assets, she said.
Hikers on days-long expeditions in the Yushan National Park routinely light fires to cook or keep warm despite regulations, while officials show little interest in enforcing the rule, she said.
There should be a review of the near-total ban on campfires in Yushan National Park to make it more reasonable and easier to enforce, she added.
The Executive Yuan’s 2019 program to deregulate access to national forests led to 295,731 people visiting national parks in the following year, an increase of 32.1 percent, TPP Legislator Ann Kao (高虹安) said.
The surge in visitor numbers coincided with 186 accidents being recorded last year, up 61.7 percent from 2019, she said.
This shows a lack of knowledge and experience about venturing into the wild, she said.
The National Sports Act (國民體育法) should be amended to include wilderness training in physical education courses, she said, adding that this could reduce loss of lives and waste of government resources.
Nature and youth trainer Cheng Ting-pin (鄭廷斌) said the public should be taught how to light campfires safely instead of prohibiting them altogether in national parks.
That Chiao, an allegedly experienced hiker, could not manage his campfire showed that public education in wilderness skills has a lot of room for improvement, he said.
Hiking should be an educational experience and not an act of mindless consumerism, he said.
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