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Farmers and developers protest
against proposed act
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
Members of the National
Association for Rights on Farmlands protest in the rain on Ketagalan Boulevard
in Taipei yesterday against proposed restrictions on the building of houses on
farmland.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Hundreds of farmers, developers and real
estate agents yesterday staged a demonstration in pouring rain on Ketagalan
Boulevard, protesting proposed restrictions on the building of houses on
farmland.
The protest, mobilized by a construction firm, was organized in reaction to a
draft regulation on constructing houses on farmland announced by the Council of
Agriculture last week that stipulates that only professional farmers who make
less than NT$500,000 (US$17,000) outside of agricultural activities and do not
possess covered buildings are eligible to build houses on farmland.
Wu Sheng-lin (§d³ÓÀM), head of the National Association for Rights on Farmlands,
who is also the chief executive of Shiang Jing Construction, said the
preconditions were too restrictive.
¡§I don¡¦t see why retired farmers cannot sell their farmland or build houses on
their land to make some money,¡¨ Wu said. ¡§The regulations, if they become
official, will have a negative impact on the price of farmland and cause harm to
those who have invested money [in farmland].¡¨
He said that many retired farmers, who are mostly in their 70s or 80s, ¡§could
sell their land and live a good life,¡¨ but the new regulations would block that
avenue.
¡§I bought a plot of farmland to build a house for my own use at the beginning of
the year. It cost me more than NT$70 million,¡¨ Wu said. ¡§Who¡¦s going to
compensate me for my loss if I cannot build the house?¡¨
At a separate setting yesterday, Tsai Pei-hui (½²°ö¼z), spokeswoman for the Taiwan
Rural Front, which is organizing an overnight rally to protest against the Land
Expropriation Act (¤g¦a¼x¦¬±ø¨Ò) tonight, said yesterday¡¦s protest was unrelated as
the protesters¡¦ demands were completely different.
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