Illegal factories on farmland emit exhaust fumes but are hard to penalize; over a hundred households in Nanshi Village, Linkou, petition

Residents of Nanshi Village in Linkou District, New Taipei City, have been unable to bear the long-term exhaust emissions and burning of unidentified objects by factories on surrounding farmland. They have reported the matter to the New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department many times, but have always received the response that "no open burning of garbage causing black smoke and air pollution nuisance was found." A total of eight communities and more than six hundred households of residents in the area have petitioned again, hoping the city government can squarely face the air pollution, noise and traffic problems caused by the factories and return to the "farmland for agricultural use" regulation.

On the 29th of last month, four bureaus of New Taipei City - the Agriculture Bureau, Environmental Protection Department, Economic Development Department and Urban Development Department - together with the illegal construction demolition team, more than ten people in total, conducted a large-scale joint on-site inspection. But in the end they only told residents that when reporting, they could not use an entire stretch or dozens of factories as the scope of the report, and insisted that residents approach the factories and photograph each factory's doorplate, address and exterior one by one so that officials could further determine whether they were illegal structures. This left residents utterly helpless: "The violations are visible, but they cannot be penalized."

In addition, the various bureaus differed in their recognition of the land-use regulations for the area. Although the national land planning map states that the area is an "agricultural zone," and the Council of Agriculture's map platform even marks it in red as "illegal factories on farmland," the New Taipei City Agriculture Bureau said it still could not confirm this, explaining that the matter had now been handed to land office personnel for processing. Residents could only sigh, "We are just small shrimp, yet we have to fight a big whale." Solving the problem of factories on farmland appears beset with difficulties.

Officials suggest the public "must know how to protect themselves when reporting"

The reporter then called the Public Works Section of the Linkou District Office in New Taipei City. The case officer surnamed Hsu, responsible for land-use zoning application business, responded that the section is only responsible for "land zoning inquiries" and does not interfere with the public's reporting business. She pointed out that the public needs to pay a fee to apply for a land-use zoning inquiry and provide the land's "parcel number," and that a parcel number is different from an address because an address cannot fully represent the location of a building. "The parcel number is the clearest and will not be wrong." The fee is one hundred yuan for five or fewer parcel numbers.

But parcel numbers are only marked on land ownership certificates, and only landowners would know them. In that case, how can reporting residents learn the factories' parcel numbers? "That is other people's personal data, why should they tell you?" She said it was actually rather unlikely to find out. However, she also suggested that residents could still state the reported factory's address and photos in the petition document to "try their luck." As for residents reporting that going to the factories in person to take photos carries safety risks, she responded: "This is very difficult. You want to report it but are unwilling to let others know, so you have to know how to protect yourself."

Before deadline, the reporter called the New Taipei City Agriculture Bureau again to confirm. The case officer explained that if one is merely reporting illegal factories on farmland, there is no need to apply to the district office for a "land zoning certificate"; one only needs to petition on the city government website, and personnel from the relevant bureaus will reply. At the same time, he also said that the case was currently being processed.