Taitung council approves county land handover

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taitung County Council approved the handover of five county-owned land plots to tenant farmers, making Taitung the first county to clear cases under the revived public land transfer policy.

Reporters reported that the decision was passed during a special council session last week, shortly after the Ministry of the Interior approved the plan earlier this month. The county government fast-tracked the cases to move the process forward.

“The decision follows years of work and turns farmers’ hopes into action,” Taitung County Magistrate Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴) said. She said many farmers have worked the same land for decades while their ownership rights remained unclear, adding the situation could not continue.

President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) announced the restart of the policy in November 2025. The Ministry of the Interior approved the Taitung proposal at a review meeting on Jan. 14.

Taitung’s Land Administration Department Director Shen Pi-shu (沈碧恕) said eligible tenants must have rented the land before Sept. 24, 1976, and kept renting it without interruption. She said the land must lie outside urban planning zones and meet national farmland transfer rules.

Shen said the county has formed a special task force and will simplify procedures under central government guidance. Qualified farmers will be notified to apply so ownership can be transferred to those who have long worked the land.