Return to the era of barbaric development! The Executive Yuan proposes that major construction projects are not restricted by the Land Planning Law, and the people criticize serious retrogression.

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The amendment to the Land Planning Law passed by the Executive Yuan on the 20th caused controversy. Article 15 added that "major national construction plans approved by the Executive Yuan" may not be restricted by land use at all levels, which caused strong criticism from the outside world. This move is tantamount to overstepping the land plan and reversing the situation, lest conflicts between excessive development and expropriation occur again.

In response to public opposition to the revision of the law, the Ministry of the Interior clarified that the revision of the law is to quickly respond to changes in the international situation, so that all levels of national land planning can adapt to changes and have the ability to respond. If the public has doubts, they can still express their opinions through the mechanism. Zhan Shungui, a former deputy director of the Environmental Protection Agency and an environmental lawyer, criticized,"This is a back door that causes land decay. Now it is difficult to close it, but now it has been reopened. It is still the thinking of development first."

Article 15 of the Land Plan, the most controversial part of this amendment, authorizes major construction approved by the Executive Yuan to be exempted from the restrictions of the Land Plan. Ministry of the Interior Information Group: Executive Yuan's duck hegemony, playing with privileges, destroying people's confidence in the national planning system

In the past, many government-led development projects expropriated private land in the name of major construction, resulting in continuous resistance to land degradation, and society paid a huge cost. Then the people advocated the legislation of land planning law, hoping to perfect the rationality and procedural justice of land zoning through the formulation of the highest level land plan, and placed high hopes on land planning.

Wu Chi-jung, commissioner of the Earth Foundation, who has long promoted private participation in the review of national land plans, believes that the Executive Yuan's current approach is "rather overbearing." The existing national land plan has opened up a platform for various departments to put forward land use needs and discuss them. Any development needs can be discussed through this procedure. However, the Executive Yuan chose to break the rules of the game and destroy the guiding principles of the superior plan of the land plan. The efforts of the people for many years will be destroyed. The rational order of land use will be destroyed.

Wu said: "Any development proposal can be included in the existing review process for discussion, I do not understand why the Executive Yuan now wants to break the rules that are not easy to establish in the national land plan." In the future, as long as all controversial cases are crowned with major national construction plans, they will not be restricted. As long as controversial development cases follow this system gap, they will be like privileged channels. The executive power can arbitrarily designate major construction projects that are not restricted by the national land plan, and the public service system will be at a loss."

Huang Ziyun of the Association of Environmental Lawyers lamented that the Executive Yuan now amends the law to authorize itself to "ignore" the functional zoning content of county and city land plans. This practice is simply a corrupt system: "When all local groups and the public participate in the deliberation of county and city land plans, it seems that it has been busy for a long time. It seems that the national land plan still has no way to play the role of guiding the national space plan. Whether it is now or in the future, Taiwanese businessmen returning to China will set up industrial zones. As long as the Executive Yuan approves it, it will not be restricted by the county land plan at all."

In August 2019, the Changhua agricultural factory fire raised doubts about polluting neighboring fields, highlighting the need for land planning. Public photography, earth citizens provide Zhan Shungui: "This is a back door that causes the land to decay"

Zhan Shungui, an environmental lawyer, said that one of the amendments is to postpone the announcement of county and city land plans. If local governments do not work in time, he thinks it is necessary to postpone them appropriately. However, the amendment to Article 15 is a serious warning of retrogression. Zhan Shungui laments: "What is the major construction defined by the Executive Yuan? This legislation is too much for the rule of man! In the past, economic thinking was development first, but there was no standard for the state to approve major construction. From the time of the Chen Shui-bian government, when there was a big investment and warmth, to the eight years of the Kuomintang, when 800 billion yuan was invested, a lot of things were just bragging."

The government is constantly using the return of Taiwanese businessmen as a pretext to exaggerate economic development and advocate the release of land, water resources, energy resources and other development resources. Zhan Shungui believes that the return of Taiwanese businessmen is due to the rising labor costs and environmental regulations in China, and the US-China trade war. The government should not take the request, let alone use it as a reasonable endorsement for large-scale development of land. The misjudgment of the economic department will lead to the evil consequences of land occupation.

Zhan Shungui said that in the past, the Malaysian government used the name of "major public construction" to arbitrarily develop, and the land management was out of order, and the excessive development led to anger and resentment. Therefore, in 2015, the people lobbied the members of the National People's Congress and the National People's Congress to amend the law to abolish the evil habit of "major construction is not regulated". Unfortunately, after the DPP regime was re-elected, the Executive Yuan actually revised the evil law back.

"This is a back door that caused the decay of the land. Now it's not easy to close it, but now it's reopened. It's still the thinking of development first." Zhan Shungui sighed deeply.

Zhan Shungui said that the Executive Yuan revised the law to restart the back door and reverse the car. (Photo/Lin Jiyang) Xu Shirong: Any plan is