Irrigation groups file suit to stop nationalizationWORRIES: One director said farmers’ irrigation sources might be sacrificed for industrial users, but the COA said that the move would ensure better management of water useBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterA group of irrigation association members yesterday filed an administrative lawsuit against the government’s move to nationalize 17 irrigation associations, as it plans to establish an agency to oversee them. It would govern 17 irrigation associations nationwide, which have nearly 1.5 million members. To make the change, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in July passed the Act of Irrigation and Engineering (農田水利法), despite the protests of some irrigation association members and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Su Huan-chih, a lawyer for a group of irrigation associations, speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday to announce his intention to apply for a provisional injunction to stop the government from nationalizing irrigation associations. While the act stipulates that the Irrigation Association Organization Act (農田水利會組織通則) would no longer be applicable, it cannot abolish the associations that have existed for more than a century, he said.

Source: Taipei Times September 01, 2020 15:56 UTC