Magang locals face uncertain future after land acquisition by consortium

Magang is a traditional Taiwanese fishing village with old stone houses, female divers selling delicious homemade seaweed jelly, and local men fishing off the pier. Sadly, this tranquil Taiwanese village was recently plunged into uncertainty when a real estate consortium purchased land on the island. Due to Taiwan’s old land tenure system, a large portion of Magang was owned by a single landlord from whom locals traditionally rented land, giving them the right of superficies, i.e., ownership of the homes they built but not the land itself.

Aside from people’s fear of being evicted from their homes in Magang Fishing Village, the 100-year-old stone houses also face demolition, which would be a great blow to Taiwan’s cultural heritage. In response, You Boxuan (游伯軒), the owner of a local coffee shop, and a group of teachers familiar with the local history and culture have jointly organized a series of activities in the hope of raising awareness about the situation in Magang.

以下為中文對照

許多以石頭堆砌打造而成的舊式房屋，海女正在海邊販售自製的石花凍，海男正在岸邊釣魚，這裡是富有「台灣極東漁村」之稱的馬崗。這看似平靜的小村落，其實正處於可能被拆遷的未知恐懼中。受到台灣舊有土地制度的影響，馬崗部分的土地權由地主所有，當地居民則以租地的方式，在這片土地上蓋房子，並擁有房屋地上權。

馬崗漁村的土地問題，除了人民居住權受到影響外，百年石頭屋恐怕面臨拆除命運，對台灣的文化資產也將會是一大浩劫。因此同樣為住戶的咖啡廳老闆游伯軒，和一些熟悉當地歷史文化的老師們，共同舉辦了一系列的活動，希望能讓更多人認識馬崗，進而關注這項議題。

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