Dozens of farmers on Wednesday protested the government’s announcement last month that it was cutting off irrigation to 19,000 hectares of farmland across Taoyuan, and Hsinchu and Miaoli counties due to insufficient rainfall this year.
The farmers and environmental groups demonstrated in front of the Executive Yuan building in Taipei, with one of their banners in Chinese reading: “Drought is a natural disaster, but curtailing water supply is human-made disaster.”
“Farmers are always the first to suffer during water shortages, and we refuse to take it any more,” said Hung Hsiang (洪箱), a farmer from Miaoli.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The government failed to consider that rice paddies are soon to be harvested, Hung said, adding that cutting irrigation would be a disaster for farmers — even if they were to receive NT$140,000 in subsidies per hectare affected.
Hung said that the government should rather cut the water supply for the manufacturing sector and subsidizing companies in the sector instead of the farmers.
The Wanbao Self-help Group, of which Hung is a member, on Wednesday issued a statement, strongly condemning the announcement.
The government said it was to grant the most generous such subsidies in the nation’s history, acting as if it would not affect agricultural production, he said.
Central Taiwan Farmer’s Group member Hsu Wen-feng (許文烽) said that while the subsidies would outweigh many famers’ losses, those who are leasing land, managing their own brand or pursue organic farming would not benefit.
The reputation of some farmers’ brands might be harmed, and they might have to cease selling under that brand, Hsu said.
The government must consider that every time it cuts the water, it is hurting not only the farmers, but every business that is in the production chain, Hsu said, adding that many businesses in the sector would not receive any subsidies.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would
RSS