Everyone prays that the Tamsui doomsday will not come

Original title: Doomsday, Tamsui

(Text and photos by Shi Yun)

The legendary "end of the world" passed, as usual, with people and livestock safe and sound. What about the Tamsui doomsday? Will it come?

When facing the government's high-handedness, can the people only choose to surrender with their hands tied? Stand up! For your hometown, for the land, for the environment, for your children and grandchildren. If we do not stand up together now, are we going to keep replicating another stretch of wasteland two to three times as large? Ghosts wail and gods howl, just like doomsday!

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Please join the petition and support the Tamsui farmers, and preserve the farmland and ecology!! We will invite a number of scholars and experts to join the Tamsui farmers and landowners in petitioning the relevant government agencies (the time will be announced later, in the last week of December). Please spread the word widely. Thank you~~

Petition to stop the "Tamsui New Town Phase 2 Development Area, Zone Expropriation and Development Project"

The Tamsui Phase 2 land speculation game is about to begin

Declaration of the "Anti-Tamsui Phase 2 Expropriation Self-Rescue Alliance Farmers' Front"

◎Tamsui New Town Phase 2 covers a total of 1168 hectares, of which agricultural and forestry land accounts for 871.33 hectares, three quarters of the Phase 2 land. More than half of that is actively cultivated farmland and forest land. The government should face up to the anti-expropriation opinions of the vast number of landowners here.

◎New Town Phase 1 covers a total of 446 hectares and was planned to accommodate 130,000 people, but since development began in 1994 nearly 20 years ago, only 13,000 people have moved in, and the land idle rate is at least 85%. How much good farmland and forest land capable of production and carbon sequestration has already been wasted? If Phase 2 land is developed further, it will not only waste resources and waste public funds, but also destroy ecology, ravage culture, wipe out farming and greenery, and even more so disregard farmers' and landowners' rights to survival, housing, property and work.

◎Taiwan is already a society with a declining birthrate, and the vacancy rate across Taiwan is as high as 19.3%. There is absolutely no need to build more buildings. As the elderly population grows day by day and modern life is excessively stressful, farmland close to metropolitan areas should also be preserved as a place for physical and mental recuperation, and new towns should no longer be built with nothing but concrete high-rises.

◎The world food crisis is imminent, and global warming is happening. Taiwan should not stand aside. It should place greater importance on rural values. It should not only preserve farmland, manage it sustainably and reward agricultural production, but also preserve mountain forests, conserve water sources, prevent floods and droughts, and save energy and reduce carbon.

◎The Tamsui Phase 2 area has a deep cultural history. Many large families have taken root and multiplied here, living here for hundreds of years. Their ancestors endured hardship and built up family businesses. We, who were born and raised on this land, are unwilling to leave this land to which we already have deep feelings, and even less willing to see our homes and ancestral halls razed to the ground by our own hands. The elderly are also overwhelmed with worry because of this.

◎The government should immediately stop the "Tamsui New Town Phase 2 Development Project", lift the 25-year construction ban, maintain the existing agricultural and ecological environment, avoid high-intensity development, and encourage farmers to continue preserving the excellent agricultural culture.

◎The government previously occupied private land to widen roads without the landowners' consent. We demand reasonable compensation from the government immediately, and from now on no new roads may be opened or widened without the landowners' consent. Major community construction should also be fully communicated with residents in advance and obtain their consent; otherwise it should not be built or planned arbitrarily.

Tamsui Farmers' Front spokesperson: Huang Zongchuan 0919-957988, [email protected]

Or please write to: [email protected]