The Legislative Yuan convened its second public hearing April 23 on the government’s rural community revitalization issues, with a view to soliciting public opinions on a draft bill that would pave the way for the approval of the proposed initiative.

The public hearing was presided over by Legislator Shou-chung Ting and drew the participation of scholars, experts, and representatives from different rural counties in Tainan, Changhua, Hsinchu, and Yilan. They exchanged views on issues related to the issues, including problems facing rural villages and how rural communities can design beneficial plans in line with the proposed revitalization policy.

All 15 scholars and experts at the public hearing agreed on the importance of revitalizing rural communities.

Community representatives like Mr. Hsiao Juei-chiao from Tainan County and Mr. Chang Wen-jen from Yilan County voiced their expectations of the bill.

Tainan County Magistrate Su Huan-chih and National Taiwan University professors Wu Jung-chieh and Hsieh Chih-cheng, basically in supporting the revitalization bill, asked questions about how farmlands can be rejuvenated.
The Council of Agriculture (COA) said the proposed draft is innovative and involves a large number of villages and grassroots people.

In order to solicit public opinion on the innovative draft bill, the Council of Agriculture (COA) has held 11 big public forums since April 22, which have drawn the participation of 7,268 farmers from 944 communities to contribute their ideas.

In response to questions about whether current land management regulations would be violated under the plan, the Council said the development of rural communities is disorganized because there is no long-term development planning.

The current plan is to incorporate the development of rural community into land management, the Council said, adding that it will craft relevant rules and procedures in line with the existing regulations.

Tainan County Magistrate Su Huan-chih suggested that the government consider the idea of implementing land readjustment as one of its measures.

However, the COA pointed out that land readjustment would require a longer time to settle land rights with farmland owners and it is not compatible with the planned development of agricultural production areas.

The proposed plan includes reorganizing rural lands to differentiate between residential and agricultural production areas and at the same time accommodate the daily requirements of farmers.

The proposed draft bill will be implemented though the use of various measures, depending on the different situations in each community, the COA said.

Management and planning of farmland under the proposed policy will reasonably solve long existing problems in rural areas, such as the illegal use of farmland and unkempt and disorganized farms, while centralization of residential and farming areas will give the villages a facelift.

About 4,000 fishing and farming communities are expected to be included in the proposed revitalization plan, which is one of President Ma Ying-jeou’s major campaign promises.

The Council called on the public to support the policy to help realize its objectives soon, which include encouraging bottom-up self-management in rural areas, luring young people back to their villages to contribute to the local economies, lowering the unemployment rate, and improving the economy in rural areas.