Illegal factories on farmland: temporary registration may be extended indefinitely, and a rush to build has erupted on farmland in Changhua
There are as many as 130,000 illegal factories on farmland across Taiwan, and many of them are medium- and high-pollution factories, causing severe farmland pollution. In the name of bringing them under management, the government opened applications for temporary factory registration certificates to more than 7,000 illegal factories, but these are due to expire on June 2 next year. Facing pressure from business operators, many legislators have demanded an extension, and recently Premier Su Tseng-chang promised to resolve the issue as soon as possible, proposing the Executive Yuan version of a draft amendment to the Factory Guidance and Management Act (referred to as the Factory Guidance Act).
The government's stance is ambiguous, and a rush to build illegal factories has even appeared at the local level. After former Kuomintang legislator Wang Huei-mei was elected Changhua County magistrate, 11 illegal factories appeared in Changhua County, 7 of them in the "Yangzaicuo" area of Lukang Township, around Wang Huei-mei's maternal home. Because the version of the Factory Guidance Act amendment proposed by Wang Huei-mei strongly supports an extension, Shih Yueh-ying, secretary-general of the Changhua County Environmental Protection Union, said that business operators feel emboldened, "and some even have the mindset of not being afraid to die and continuing to build."
