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Premier broke his
promise on land seizures: farmers
FORCED EVICTION: Wu promised farmers in Dapu and
Siangsihliao they would be able to keep their homes, but the orders for
expropriation still stand
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
Several Changhua County residents and activists yesterday accused Premier Wu
Den-yih (吳敦義) of breaking a promise he made last year to allow them to keep
their houses amid fears of forced evictions.
During a morning press conference in front of the Construction and Planning
Agency (CPA), residents from Siangsihliao (相思寮) in Erlin Township (二林) said Wu
appears not to have acted on his promise.
“President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) praised Wu as a ‘merciful person’ in his dealings
with the land expropriation controversy in Dapu (大埔) and Siangsihliao,” said Hsu
Po-jen (許博任), a member of the Siangsihliao Support Group. “However, 10 months
have passed [since Wu’s promise] and there are still residents who may face
forced eviction.”
Yesterday’s press conference was timed to coincide with a meeting of the
agency’s regional planning committee to discuss the future of three Siangsihliao
households that face eviction to make way for the Erlin branch of the Central
Taiwan Science Park.
Although the situation in Dapu, a borough of Jhunan Township (竹南) in Miaoli
County, was not discussed at the meeting, several Dapu residents showed up to
support Siangsihliao residents, since both communities face an uncertain future.
In July last year, more than 1,000 people — including farmers from communities
that faced forced land seizures for development projects nationwide, students
and farming activists — staged an overnight protest against the seizures on
Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in front of the Presidential Office.
The following month, Wu met representatives of the groups and promised that the
farmers in Dapu and Siangsihliao would be able to keep their houses on the site,
while the government would find other plots of land to compensate for the
farmland seized by the government.
However, the expropriation orders have yet to be revoked, which the farmers said
meant that the evictions could proceed as planned.
“I am very sad to see Wu not keeping his promises,” said Hsu Shih-jung (徐世榮),
chair of National Chengchi University’s department of land economics, a
long-term participant in farming rights movements and opponent of land
expropriation.
“Wu is premier and is the Chinese Nationalist Party’s [KMT] vice presidential
candidate. How could he not keep his promises?” he asked.
The government “made a show” when media were after them over the issue, “but
when the cameras turned away … nothing happened,” he said.
Siangsihliao residents and science park representatives failed to reach an
agreement after about two hours of discussions and Deputy Minister of the
Interior Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎), who presided over the meeting, said the science
park should come up with a solution to settle the matter with the three
Siangsihliao households before the next meeting.
No date has been set for that meeting.
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