Citizens of the Earth / Condemning the Legislative Yuan for passing the absurd "Industrial Assistance Act"; next, we ask everyone to keep taking action

After the 2010 Factory Management and Assistance Act incorporated an assistance program for illegal factories, illegal factories only multiplied the more they were assisted. In the past ten years, the number of newly added factories reached 70,000, which is the total accumulated over the previous 60 to 70 years. Taiwan currently has 130,000 illegal factories. Originally, civil society hoped that the Executive Yuan would propose a complete draft amendment from the height of the Executive Yuan, but the amendment version proposed by the Executive Yuan was entirely tailored to the convenience of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, highlighting the absurd fact that Taiwan is still dominated by the economy, and one could even say dominated by the illegal economy.

Illegal factories on farmland are legalized on the spot, and the problem continues to drag on for 20 years

Under such circumstances, the on-the-spot legalization of illegal factories on farmland is already imminent, with no fairness or justice to speak of, and it is even harder for civil society groups to file citizen suits against negligent local governments. In fact, there are no so-called three swords of legislative amendment: "newly built structures reported and demolished immediately, medium- and high-pollution factories handled first, low-pollution factories assisted on the spot." There are only the three swords behind it: "local faction operatives, political donations, and the interests of land rezoning."

The overall assistance mechanism proposed by civil society groups in the past was founded on facing the facts of illegal conduct, strictly granting amnesty periods, establishing plans for priority relocation, providing classified and tiered assistance and accountability, and finally, through citizen suits, providing civil society with a last line of defense in the oversight mechanism. But officials in the administrative branch admitted that they had just been feeding us empty talk for three years, and legislators, for the sake of votes, absurdly accepted it. This Executive Yuan amendment version that drags the problem on generation after generation ultimately, after endless protests, secured only this: making the problem not endless, but rather 20 years that neither you nor I could imagine.

Excluding citizen suits means reporting and assistance must be strengthened

In this round of legislative amendment, many members of the Legislative Yuan mentioned that because there is a reporting mechanism, citizen suits are not needed. Our foundation, together with multiple civil society groups and local groups, will continue to report newly built illegal factories, and we do not rule out reporting directly to legislators. We will also keep a close watch on related subsidiary regulations, implementation plans, and local government management and assistance plans, and examine whether there are matters involving harm to the environment, farmland, agricultural producers, and lawful operators.

Please join the "National Land Planning Oversight Information Platform" to protect our national land for the next generation

Friends, please keep paying attention to the chaos involving Taiwan's farmland, and join the platform jointly established by the Citizens of the Earth Foundation and civil society friends, the "National Land Planning Oversight Information Platform." In the face of such absurd Taiwanese politics, Taiwan's laws have stipulated for 40 years that factories cannot be built on farmland. Please join us in reporting and whistleblowing. Absurd national land should not be the asset we leave to the next generation. Being lawful does not make one an idiot, and being unlawful does not make one a genius. Taiwan's justice and righteousness require our society to strive for them together. The day of this legislative amendment is the most lawless and disorderly day for elected representatives and government agencies since Taiwan became a rule-of-law country!

To join the "National Land Planning Oversight Information Platform," see here