News
Lawmakers vote to nationalise irrigation groups
Taiwanese legislators have passed amendments to the Act of Irrigation Association Organization, meaning the island's 17 irrigation associations will be combined into a new government body under the Council of Agriculture.
The amendments also mean that the heads of each of the associations will be appointed by the government. The bill is slated to go into effect in October.
Passage of the bill comes amid concern that the associations are unable to take legal action against people found to have violated agricultural irrigation and drainage regulations because of their status as non-governmental entities.
The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) is slamming the amendments to the act and is claiming the government passed the bill solely to seize the associations' assets, which total some NT75 billion.
