00:01It's been raining almost non-stop here in Guangfu Township in eastern Taiwan.
00:06Right now, it's business as usual, but the shadow of the devastating flood last year still looms.
00:12A barrier lake up in the mountains breached, unleashing tons of water that inundated the town,
00:18killing 19 people and leaving it covered in mud.
00:21Since then, authorities have restored and raised the river embankment.
00:24But residents still feel anxious whenever it rains, as the sand and dirt up in the mountain remains a threat.
01:08The first stage of the embankment work is done,
01:11and authorities are starting construction of a second line of defense 200 meters away from the riverbank.
01:36As part of the broader Ma Tai'an River Flood Prevention Project,
01:40officials are seeking plots of land to store the mud that has accumulated in the riverbed.
01:45An official notice and a land lease offer was sent to farmer Dalu Gatti,
01:50looking to rent his riverside farmland for that purpose.
01:53While Dalu has no issue with the proposed compensation,
01:56he says he feels pressured by the government to give up his land, even temporarily.
02:01He says he does not follow the crops.
02:04He said he is ready to write down just before he goes to the riverb갑 and he doesn't follow it.
02:15He said he goes to school and he says he goes to school and he says he doesn't follow it.
02:22He did not follow it.
02:24He did not follow it.
02:30Arborist King Jiang is facing the same issue.
02:32Like many others, he refuses to sign the lease.
03:05People at the Self-Help Service Desk say many farmers haven't even received official notice.
03:11Local officials from Guangfu are now urging the central government to hear the farmers' concerns.
03:21目前的规划是往北740公尺會做一些先行使用的部分.
03:26所以目前上個禮拜已經有一些農民農友 地主有在做溝通.
03:33未來它還是會去走我們的協力架構和征收.
03:38要如何化解我們在地的族人民眾的憂慮.
03:41還有很多人還是希望是擁有土地的.
03:42在哪些地方可以有土地嗎?
03:47As the rains return to Guangfu, the central government now faces a delicate balancing act,
03:53trying to protect the town from future disasters without cutting off the locals from the land
03:57they hold dear. Andy Xue and Irene Lin in Hualien for Taiwan Plus.
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