Taiwan's environmental protection problems and movement Ⅲ
美濃反水庫運動
The Meinong anti-reservoir movement
主持人陳瑞賓（台灣環境資訊協會秘書長）：美濃反水庫運動在台灣的環境運動裡可說是一個重要的指標，因為它是少數成功的案例之一。反水庫運動雖然好像成功了，過了幾年卻又冒出要再蓋這個水庫的聲音，這樣的循環已經好幾次了。接下來就由張老師來談談反水庫運動的投入、在地經營，以及社區大學的開拓與深耕。
Chen Rei-bin (Secretary-general , Taiwan Environmental Information Association): The Meinong anti-reservoir movement could be said to be an important index for the environmental protection movement in Taiwan, as it was one of the few successful cases. Despite the fact that the movement appeared successful, there has been subsequent talk about building another reservoir. This has been a reoccurring cycle. Let’s now ask Mr. Chang to talk a bit about the anti-reservoir movement, its operation and the establishment of community colleges.
張正揚（美濃愛鄉協進會前總幹事）：很高興有這個機會跟大家一起分享我們這幾年在南台灣一個小農村工作的經驗。我們在美濃的工作從1992年延續到現在已經超過15年了，整個過程大概可以分成兩個時期，首先是社會醞釀期，接下來是抗爭期，抗爭期分為第一期與第二期，在這兩期中間，我們一直持續在做社區深化。
Chang Cheng-yang (former director of the Meinong People's Association): I am very happy to have this opportunity to share with everyone the experiences we have had in a small farming village in southern Taiwan. We started our work in Meinong fifteen years ago in 1992. The whole process could be divided into two stages. The first stage involved getting things going in the community, with the second stage devoted to making our stand. The second stage could be further divided into two more stages; during both of these stages, we have continued to deepen community commitment.
在社會運醞釀期，台灣剛剛解嚴，社會運動非常蓬勃，有三個年輕人回到美濃，成立了一個工作小組。台灣大概40歲以下的年輕人都經歷了升學主義，因此在整個成長的過程中所學的是跟自己的生長環境脫離的東西；非常諷刺的是，你書讀得越多，可能意味著你與你的故鄉是越疏離的。這幾個有理想的年輕人想在家鄉想做一些事情，第一個碰到的困難是必須要重新建立起他們與地方網絡的連結。
During the first stage of initial social ferment, the central government had just lifted martial law, which marked a period of flourishing social movement. Three young people returned to Meinong and set up a working group. Most people under forty in Taiwan have gone through the pressures of trying to pursue advanced studies at the cost of alienation from the very environment in which we grew up. The ironic thing here is that the more you study, the further away you stray from your home villages. These idealistic youths wanted to do some things in their home village. The first difficulty was thus to reestablish themselves with the local network.
美濃是一個非常典型的客家農村社會，所以後來在進行抗爭的時候，運用到很多客家的文化元素。抗爭的第一個階段從1992年12月12日開始，當天美濃的民間社團與美濃鎮公所舉辦了第一場公聽會；美濃鎮公所雖然是一個公部門，但它是站在一個帶領反對的位置。在那場公聽會之前，基本上美濃地方上大概99.9％的人對美濃水庫進行了十幾年的規劃都一無所知。所以在那場公聽會之後，很多工作開始進行，譬如非常頻繁的社區說明會。
Meinong is a very typical Hakka farming community. This is why when the protests began many elements of Hakka culture were employed. The first stage of the protest process began on December 12, 1992, when some civic groups and the Meinong Township Office held the first public hearing. Even though the Meinong Township Office is a government bureau, it was still opposed to the reservoir initiative. Before the public hearing, probably about 99.9 percent of Meinong residents knew nothing about plans for the reservoir that had been in the works for over ten years. After the public hearing, much of our work, such as more frequent community meetings, got started.
美濃水庫的政策當時已經跑完所有的行政程序，包括行政院都已經核定了，所以隔年立法院針對預算就要進行審查時，那時候唯一能做的就是到立法院遊說立委，把這個預算擋下來。但是當時缺乏經費，為了節省經費，大家決定晚上搭巴士北上，就睡在巴士上。後來有一張反水庫的專輯就把這個故事寫下來了，叫「夜行巴士」。在立法院前為了要展現一種不是悲情的抗爭方式，就決定讓客家婦女穿上代表客家的藍衫，拿著代表美濃客家文化的紙傘，這樣的作法變成當天媒體的焦點，甚至變成後來我們到立法院都會採取的方式。
The Meinong reservoir initiative had already gone through all necessary administrative channels at the time, including approval by the Executive Yuan. The following year the Legislative Yuan was getting ready to review the budget, which left us little choice but to make our way to Taipei to lobby legislators and try and stop the budget from passing. We were short of funds ourselves in those days, so in order to save money everyone decided to take an overnight coach and sleep on the bus. One member of our group even wrote about the trip calling his article "The Nocturnal Bus Ride." We decided not to go for the pitiful look when protesting in front of the Legislative Yuan, so we had the women dress in traditional blue Hakka outfits and carry the paper umbrellas that are a famous symbol of Meinong Hakka culture. This approach caught the attention of the media and we used the same tactics each time we made our way to the Legislative Yuan.
在抗爭第一期，我們聯繫上了國際河流組織，它的總部在舊金山，這個中心整理了全世界所有反水庫的案例與反水庫的理由。在聯繫的過程中我們才發現原來吾道不孤；反水庫運動其實是繼反核之後，全世界最洶湧澎湃的環保運動。
In the first stage of our protests, we made contact with an international river protection organization based in San Francisco. This organization helps with worldwide anti-reservoir causes, offering advice on how to present our cases to the public. In the process of making contact, we found we were not alone. Anti-reservoir protests are number two only behind anti-nuclear among worldwide environmental protection movements.
接下來就是連續兩年在立法院，我們成功的把水庫的預算擋下來之後，就進入一個比較和緩的時期，大約是從1995～1998年，在這幾年裡，美濃愛鄉協進會推動了很多工作，包括《美濃鎮誌》的編輯，參與規劃美濃客家文物館，開辦全台灣第一個外籍配偶的師資班等等。《美濃鎮誌》跟當時台灣大部分的地方誌很不一樣，當時大部分的地方誌都是委託某一個學術團體，或是某一個專家去撰寫的，可是美濃鎮誌採取了一個獨特的方式，它邀集了地方上的老師與各個階層的人來撰寫，所以在這個鎮誌裡，你可以看到非常傳統的觀點，也可以看到非常批判的觀點，整個寫作群就超過了50人。後來甚至有一個東海社會學的教授寫了一篇文章，他認為美濃鎮誌的撰寫過程，基本上就是一個社會運動。
The two years after we succeeded in blocking the budget for the reservoir was a period of comparative peace. From around 1995 to 1998, the Meinong People's Association went about a number of tasks. This included compiling the Meinong Annals of Local History, planning the Meinong Hakka Culture Museum and starting Taiwan's first qualifying classes for teachers to instruct overseas brides. Our Meinong Local History Annals were different than other such efforts around Taiwan. At that time, most places writing local annals would hire a group of scholars or some expert to compile the book. In Meinong, however, we took a different approach. We gathered the teachers as well as other members of the community to write the annals as a group effort. This is why you see a more traditional as well as critical flavor in our annals. There were over fifty people who collectively wrote this book. One professor from Soochow University wrote a chapter as well; he said the process of writing the annals was basically a type of social movement.
1998年4月16日，當時的行政院院長蕭萬長先生宣示美濃水庫必須在一年內動工，這樣的宣示在隔天的中國時報以頭版頭條報導出來，這個宣示使美濃的民心又重新凝聚起來，從那天開始一直到隔年的5月，也就是立法院做完最後一次的審查，有更多的朋友加入了反水庫運動，它慢慢的從一個比較地方性的環保事件，變成一個全國矚目的環保運動。
On April 16, 1998, then premier Hsiao Wan-chang announced that work would have to begin on the reservoir within a year. When the news hit the headlines of the China Times the next day, the people of Meinong started to take action again. From that day until May of the next year, when the Legislative Yuan was scheduled to make its final assessment, many more people joined our cause. The movement went from a relatively local environmental protection effort in becoming the focus of national environmental protests.
在這幾年裡，我們跟很多團體合作推動了很多事情，也獲得了各方面的支持，包括當時高高屏三個縣市的首長聯合發表了一篇聲明反對興建美濃水庫。但是當時執政的國民黨動用它在立法院的的人數優勢強渡關山，原本這個預算已經在預算委員會被刪除了，但是國民黨還是把這個議程納入院會的表決，立法院做成了一個跟預算委員會相反的決議，讓美濃水庫繼續動工。後來陳水扁總統在2000年上任之後做了一個公開的宣示說，在他任內不會興建美濃水庫。所以整個過程像在坐雲霄飛車，美濃水庫的命運從原本的積極的動工又變成擱置，說擱置是因為它並沒有結束，每一年還是編列了預算在維持美濃水庫繼續推動的態勢。
In these years, we joined with many groups to push for many initiatives and received a great deal of support from many sectors. This included leading officials from three cities and counties that issued a joint statement against the building of the Meinong reservoir. But the ruling KMT used its number advantage in the Legislative Yuan to get what the party wanted. The budget was cancelled by the budget committee, but the KMT succeeded in getting the agenda before the assembly for a vote. The general assembly was able to override the budget committee and order work to begin on the reservoir. When Chen Shui-bian took office in 2000, he publicly proclaimed that the reservoir would not be built during his term. The whole process was a roller coaster ride, as the Meinong reservoir went from being actively promoted by the central government to being shelved. But there still has been money in the budget every year since then earmarked for constructing the reservoir.
從1999年一直到現在，我們持續的做了很多社區自主發展深化的工作，比較關鍵的是兩樣，第一個是社團發展，很多原有的社團讓他們的公共性擴大，從一個聯誼性質的社團變成一個公共議題的社團；另外一個是社區大學的成立，這個成立為農村帶來一些學習，透過這個學習，社區大學也直接或間接地參與了農村工作。我們也跟美濃的解說員合作，他們在解說的過程中，其實就是在進行反水庫的教育。我們把美濃水庫的興建當作是一個危機，也是一個轉機－－是一個社區重建的轉機，所以我們後來成立組織的時候，不叫「反水庫協會」，而是「美濃愛鄉協進會」。
From 1999 until the present day, we have continued doing a number projects aimed at developing community autonomy. We have two main projects; the first is civic organization development. Many organizations have allowed their public scope to grow, going from a local association to an organization with more of a public agenda. The second project we are working on is establishing a community college. The college would provide our residents with an opportunity to learn more and through this learning, the college both directly and indirectly would contribute to developing our town. We are also cooperating with Meinong spokespeople who help to educate the public regarding anti-reservoir efforts. We look at the possibility of reservoir construction as both a crisis and an opportunity. The opportunity the reservoir project has afforded us is a chance to rebuild our community. That’s why when we formed our organization we called it the Meinong People’s Association and not the Anti-reservoir Association.
※ 本文轉載自Taiwan News Online
