Must-read before camping: four campsites illegally developed on hillsides, most lack safety equipment or warning signs

The Consumer Protection Committee of the Executive Yuan recently conducted a joint inspection of the camping areas of 15 domestic camping operators, checking whether their locations, accident prevention measures, building safety management, liability insurance and standard form contracts complied with the relevant regulations.

Today (the 5th), the Consumer Protection Committee released the inspection results; every operator had more or less some violations. Consumer protection officer Wang Deming further stated that four operators were involved in serious violations such as "illegal development of hillside land," "located in debris flow potential areas," and "located in geologically sensitive areas," which could endanger consumers' personal safety.

Illegal hillside development; building homestays and wooden cabins at campsites is unlawful

Wang Deming pointed out that the Liangshan camping area in Majia Township, Pingtung County, involved illegal development of hillside land and, after inspection by local soil and water conservation personnel, has been fined 60,000 yuan; and the Yingda Ecological Leisure Farm, also in Pingtung County, had an actual use area inconsistent with the area approved and registered in its original application, suspected of violating the regional plan. It is still under investigation, and if the findings are confirmed, it will also be fined 60,000 yuan.

In addition, buildings in the parks of 8 camping operators had no use licenses or their use did not match the applied-for category. "Some have even built homestays and wooden cabins next to the camping area." Wang Deming said this conduct violates Article 77 of the Building Act. "In principle, these must be demolished," unless a legal building permit is obtained before the scheduled demolition, in which case operation may continue.

Some campsite facilities lack safety equipment

The Consumer Protection Committee also found that quite a few operators still had inadequate campsite facilities and safety equipment: 7 operators had no fire extinguishers, had expired fire extinguishers, or did not place them in obvious locations; 6 operators had no first-aid kits or had expired medicines; and 4 had insufficient warning signs or lifesaving equipment. After these violations were identified, the operators have all made improvements.

Wang Deming stressed that some operators are located near streams but have not posted warnings such as "Fast-flowing stream, please pay attention to safety." "Safety warnings must be strengthened to ensure people's personal safety."

In addition, 9 camping operators had not taken out public accident liability insurance as required by law, or did not meet the required public accident liability insurance coverage amount. Wang Deming said this violates the Consumer Protection Self-Governance Ordinance and must be corrected within a one-month deadline, otherwise fines will be imposed under local regulations.