Villagers desperate for government maintenance of local wetland park

The location of Taiyuan Wetland Park was formerly home to Taiyuan Elementary School, a small branch school. In 2007, the then legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) - currently Pingtung County Commissioner – visited the area and was highly impressed by its beauty. He raised NT$13 million from the central government to construct a wetland park and give local residents a recreational space with educational value.

Following its completion, many locals visited the park each day for leisurely strolls and to enjoy themselves. Even visitors from outside the locality came to take pictures of the park. Unfortunately, locals have been left dismayed by the poor level of park maintenance and have repeatedly approached the village chief and township office to relay their dissatisfaction – sadly, their grievances have fallen on deaf ears and the problem has yet to rectified. Mr. Zheng, an employee in the Construction Section, Fangliao Township Office, said: “We never received any notification from Taiyuang Village Office. The township office continuously has funds available for the maintenance of township parks. We will send someone over to make inspections in the coming days.” Calls were made to Taiyuan Village Office but there was no answer; therefore, the village chief’s version of events is unknown. 

Mrs. Pan, a local resident said: “With two ponds and the whole place overgrown with weeds, we don’t let the children play at the wetland park anymore. I can’t imagine what would happen if one of the kids got bitten by a poisonous snake. What’s more, the water doesn't flow anymore and has become stagnant, becoming a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. We hope that the government department responsible will deal with the situation as soon as possible.”

Villagers desperate for government maintenance of local wetland park 

URL：https://www.peopo.org/news/330221

(以下是中文對照)

濕地公園 毒蛇出沒 村民盼公所維護

太源濕地公園前身為太源國小分校校舍，於2007年時任立委的現任屏東縣長潘孟安，巡視時發現此地環境優美，即向中央爭取一千三百多萬元，興建濕地公園，供當地居民有一處具有休閒以及教育意義的公園使用。

公園興建完成後，每天有許多的居民在此散步遊玩，也有外地遊客聞名來此拍照，但居民投訴公園自從興建以來維護不周，多次向村長以及鄉公所反應皆未積極處理。公民記者採訪枋寮鄉公所建設課鄭姓課員，他表示：沒有接到太源村辦公室行文通知，鄉公所一直都有編列預算來維護鄉內公園維護，近日會派人前往巡視。公民記者去電太源村辦公室，未有人接聽電話，因此無法得知太源村長說法。

而在地的潘姓居民表示：現在都已經不讓小孩去濕地公園玩，因為有兩個水池又加上雜草叢生，萬一被毒蛇咬傷後果不堪設想，且水池現在都沒有流動，已成死水湖，更有蚊蟲滋長的疑慮，希望相關單位可以儘早前往處理。