The government must toughen up and apply a firmer hand in enforcing land protection policies as Taiwan's environment cannot wait any longer, Premier Jiang Yi-huah said today during the kickoff meeting of the Executive Yuan's special task force on national land protection.
After watching stirring scenes of environmental damage and pollution in the documentary Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above last month, the premier pledged to film director Chi Po-lin that the government would make every effort to address these problems. He appointed Executive Yuan Deputy Secretary-General Chien Tai-lang to form a land protection task force, which combines the resources of related government agencies and receives operational support from the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission.
Chien said the task force has already compiled a list of 16 environmental issues highlighted in the documentary: illegal mining of sand/gravel and replacement with waste materials; accumulation of sediment in reservoirs; ecological damage and pollution by cement production factories; land subsidence due to excess groundwater pumping; mudslide and driftwood hazards after Typhoon Morakot; slope destabilization and ecological destruction from high-mountain road construction; slope land collapse at Mt. Ali's Zhushan railroad station; severe landslides at rural indigenous villages; overuse of hillside terrain; coastline erosion from fishing harbors and wave-breaker blocks; shrinking coastal wetlands due to pollution; river pollution; air pollution, carbon emission and illegal effluent discharge from industries; subsidence and outflow at older coastal landfills; illegal construction on riverbank floodways; and apartment buildings built near unsafe hillsides.
The work of protecting national land requires the cooperation of central and local governments, the Executive Yuan said. To address the 16 problems, the task force has begun by compiling lists of problematic businesses and sites to investigate. If the problem falls under the jurisdiction of the central government, then it is up to the appropriate ministry to take immediate action; if under the local government, authorities can order the company to correct the situation within a specific period. If the company fails to comply, authorities can respond with all means at its disposal, including announcing the names of violating companies, referring violators to a judicial agency, or publishing the implementation results of all local governments. The central government will also apply the full weight of its authority to ensure compliance and dismantling of harmful structures. Additionally, in situations where the scope of laws falls short, the appropriate agency will initiate procedures to amend those laws. Premier Jiang will hear the preliminary results of these efforts in one month's time.
The task force has divided the 16 topics among four working groups—soil and gravel management (led by the Ministry of Economic Affairs), coastline and slope land management (Council of Agriculture), environmental quality (Environmental Protection Administration) and sensitive land development (Ministry of the Interior, MOI). A legal enforcement working group led by the Ministry of Justice and MOI will also add legal muscle to the efforts. All five working groups will be made up of relevant government agencies at the central and local levels.
The task force will carry out its missions by repeating a three-step cycle. First, working groups will be invited to analyze a problem and craft response strategies; an inspection team then will be formed to examine the site in question; and finally, inspection recommendations will be used as reference for formulating policies and conducting periodic follow-up evaluations. The task force will also meet with experts, professionals and local authorities on a biweekly basis or as necessary.
Next week, the task force will begin inspecting selected sites with assistance from experts in the field. The working groups will also take a three-step cycle approach: assess the situation and what mechanisms are available to handle those situations; come up with response strategies for the short, medium and long term; and hold evaluation and review meetings as necessary. Each working group will report its progress to the task force on a regular basis.