TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Environmental groups and legislators condemned local governments Wednesday (Sept. 17) for inadequate enforcement against illegal land alterations that have created environmental disasters across southern Taiwan. The coalition highlighted the notorious Grand Canyon of Meinong (美濃大峽谷), where unauthorized soil extraction and waste dumping scarred farmland in Kaohsiung City's Meinong District (美濃區). Similar illegal dumping operations have plagued other locations including Kaohsiung's Matoushan (馬頭山), creating widespread contamination concerns.
Huang Hui-min (黃惠敏), president of the Matoushan Natural and Cultural Association (馬頭山自然人文協會), documented illegal waste dumping at Matoushan in February that resulted in criminal indictments Aug. 26. Tainan Community University (台南社區大學) testing revealed alarming heavy metal contamination, with copper concentrations surpassing soil safety standards by 100-fold alongside dangerous levels of zinc, arsenic, and cadmium. The contamination poses serious environmental and health risks to surrounding communities.
Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華), convenor of the Oversight Alliance (監督施政聯盟), revealed staggering statistics showing 54,282 illegal land alteration cases recorded by the National Land Management Agency, Taiwan's land use authority, from 2002 to 2025. Pingtung County, Tainan City, Changhua County, Kaohsiung City, and Taoyuan City emerged as the worst offenders in these violations. Chen argued that proactive government inspections could have prevented the environmental destruction witnessed in Meinong District.
Taiwan People's Party legislator Chen Gau-Tzu (陳昭姿) demanded the Ministry of Environment (環境部) accelerate Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法) revisions targeting industrial waste dumping at Matoushan. Chang Li-hsun (張莉珣), head of the ministry's Resource Circulation Administration (資源循環署), confirmed amendments were announced May 29. The Executive Yuan, Taiwan's cabinet, will review the legislation by September's end before sending it to the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan's parliament, by October's conclusion.
