Premier Jiang Yi-huah today presided over the national land protection task force ad hoc meeting and heard briefings on the proclamation of geologically sensitive areas from the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) and on algal reef conservation at the Guanyin coastline of Taoyuan County from the Council of Agriculture (COA).
The MOEA has already formulated a timetable for proclaiming geologically sensitive areas nationwide. The zones will be announced in five phases prior to the end of 2016; the first-phase locations were declared on January 20, 2014 and covered potholes and waterfalls along the Keelung River. Another batch, currently undergoing review, is expected to be announced by the end of this March and will encompass Zhuoshui River alluvial fans, Chelongpu faults, Taipei City hill slopes and Nantou County's Qingjing hilly areas.
The Geology Act mandates the disclosure of information on geologically sensitive areas, the MOEA stated. These are separate and distinct from disaster-stricken or dangerous zones, and there is no provision that restricts or forbids development on them; however, land developers must, in keeping with their environmental characteristics, conduct more advanced geological surveys and evaluations in these areas and adopt appropriate corresponding measures in order to achieve the objectives of land preservation and disaster prevention.
The MOI will take corresponding measures with regard to land use and building management in these locations and enjoin local governments to carry out their own responsibilities for these zones' management, such as abiding by each region's master plan concerning the area's land use and regulation and reinforcing the safety inspection of the buildings.
As for seven guesthouses and hostels in the Qingjing area that have not been legally registered and whose structures violated the building code and were thus banned from operating by the Nantou County Government (NCG), the premier directed the MOI and the NCG to formulate concrete measures in line with the law to deal with these cases and complete them before the flood season arrives for the sake of public safety.
The COA stated that algal reef conservation at the Taoyuan Guanyin coastline should employ the dual strategies of pollution prevention and creation of an algal reef protection area, which is being mapped out by the Taoyuan County Government (TCG) as a wildlife conservation zone that covers a total area of 396 hectares. It is also assessing the designation of a nature preserve in the zone which would include the river mouth, ocean and wetland ecosystems.
The TCG is expediting the conservation zone demarcation process, and the COA will forward the algal reef protection plan to the Wildlife Conservation Advisory Committee and the natural landscape preservation advisory committee for review within one month of receiving it, the agency said.
The premier enjoined related competent agencies to fulfill public expectations by expediting the formulation of effective measures to better the ecological environment as well as the execution and reinforcement of investigations and crackdowns in order to protect algal and ocean ecologies from the threat of further pollution.
Regarding the pollution of coastlines by industries and damage to the national land and environment depicted in the documentary Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above, the premier remarked after viewing the film on November 13, 2013 that the government would work to resolve these issues. Thereafter, he directed Deputy Secretary-General Chien Tai-lang to serve as convener of the national land protection task force to coordinate with relevant ministries for this purpose. Since its inception, the task force has convened four meetings and conducted five onsite investigations in 16 areas of northern, central, southern and eastern Taiwan.