CP Group plans to build six chicken farms in Hualien, 200,000 birds per farm, residents protest in Taipei

CP Group plans to invest in building six chicken farms in Hualien, one of which is a laying hen farm with up to 200,000 birds, while the other five are breeding farms each housing 25,000 breeding chickens. However, residents only learned of the news after most of the farms had passed re-review and begun construction, sparking local protests. In addition to dissatisfaction over the county government's failure to disclose information, residents are even more worried about water source, air and waste pollution, which would endanger Hualien's overall tourism industry environment. Residents have launched self-rescue actions, demanding that CP Group immediately stop the farm construction plan.

The Hualien County Government asked CP Group to publicly address the public's concerns. A briefing session was originally scheduled to be held in Hualien, but CP Group cancelled the local briefing and chose to hold a media briefing at the Sheraton Hotel in Taipei. Local residents urgently mobilized to the press conference venue to express their protests, but were blocked at the door and unable to enter, further deepening public doubts.

Fenglin Voices: CP Group has a poor credit record; we must protect Fenglin's "International Slow City" honor

CP Group's chicken investment plan in Hualien includes building one laying hen farm and five breeding farms in Shoufeng, Fenglin and Guangfu. Among them, three farms of 25,000 birds each will be set up in Fenglin, one of which is located in Fengyi Village, causing strong backlash from residents. Xiao Wen-li, head of Fengyi Village who initiated the Fenglin Township self-rescue association, pointed out: "Fenglin relies on groundwater flowing down from the Central Mountain Range, but the chicken farms are set up upstream of the water source, which makes the people of Fenglin Township very resentful."

"We don't want compensation money, we don't want job opportunities. CP Group applied the year before last, and yet nobody knew. I'm a village head and I only found out from the internet." Xiao Wen-li emphasized: "CP Group has had problems before, shifting responsibility to downstream contractors. This company has a poor record and no credibility, so all of us in Fenglin are opposed."

"Fenglin is an International Slow City. Most residents are elderly, and the children are all working elsewhere. People walk along that road every day for strolls. They've lived here for eighty or ninety years. Once the chicken farms move in, trucks will be running back and forth every day, destroying our way of life." Xiao Wen-li stressed, "We cannot let the chicken farms destroy Fenglin's hard-won reputation as an International Slow City."

Local residents: We want tourism, not chicken farms; the two development concepts completely conflict

Shuhu Village in Shoufeng Township is the site of the largest 200,000-bird chicken farm in CP Group's investment plan. Due to the rapid development of tourism in Shuhu Village in recent years, it has also attracted many homestays to open, drawing in-depth travelers to visit Shuhu Village.

Villager Gao Xian-rong said angrily: "Hualien builds its county on tourism, but nobody knew that the township office and county government had already approved this plan. A large 200,000-bird chicken farm will be built in Shuhu Village and residents didn't even know. Shuhu is a small village. How many trucks will be running back and forth every day? Now the operator only emphasizes that its procedures are legal and its equipment is advanced, but it has not considered residents' feelings at all, and has already infringed on residents' lives and housing rights."

Gao further emphasized that Shuhu Village has the centrally invested Shuhu Trail and Cherry Blossom Trail, which in recent years have become secret spots for travelers to explore. "It's unexpected that the central government invests in tourism development here while the local government destroys it. Two completely conflicting things are placed together. I don't know what the county government is thinking?"

In response to the operator's statement that it had done its best to communicate and that the briefing was cancelled only because of resident backlash, Gao Xian-rong refuted the operator's claim: "If no one had protested, the construction permit would have been issued. It was only because of the protests that it was suspended." He emphasized, "If the operator and county government create a fait accompli, it will be too late to protest afterward. Fortunately, emergency action meant that the largest farm in Shuhu Village has not yet been approved."

Wu Yu-cheng, a youth from the Mafu tribe in Guangfu Township, said that the breeding chicken farm CP Group set up in Guangfu is very close to the Mafu tribe, but everyone was kept in the dark. People in the tribe only recently learned about this matter. Normally only the elderly and children are in the tribe. If development goes ahead, there may be no peace.

CP Group: We are sincere about communication and willing to clarify doubts

The main concerns raised by residents over CP Group's investment case include: 1. Located below potential debris flow areas; 2. Water, air and waste treatment; 3. Past violation records, especially last year's incident involving CP Group's downstream contractor illegally burying sludge, which raised high concern. 4. The land purchase and factory construction process was not open and transparent, avoiding communication.

CP Group held a press conference today (5/13) stating that regarding the underground water source and the triggering problems of potential debris flow areas, CP Group representatives presented maps and materials explaining that the site selection for the farms has already avoided debris flow risk areas and underground water sources. As for the incident of chicken waste sludge burial, he said that in the past they had commissioned operators with government-certified legal licenses to handle it. Although they encountered the problem of contractors handling it illegally, CP Group had afterward proposed improvement methods, including waste tracking, strengthened management and spot checks, and requiring operators to provide proof of final proper disposal.

Regarding external doubts that the chicken farms first purchased land in individual names and then carried out development, suspected of evading oversight, CP Group representatives said that to comply with regulations restricting agricultural land to agricultural use, land must be purchased by natural persons, then an application made to build facilities, and only after completion can it be transferred to company registration. As for public doubts that dispersed development was used to evade regulations, he believed that breeding chicken farms have a long breeding period and high commercial value, so dispersed farming is adopted, and the number and scale of each farm will not be too large.