Wando-gun Reverses New Livestock Vehicle Washing Facility Project in Front of Schools...Criticized for Hasty Administration

Residents of Gogeum-myeon, Wando-gun, posted banners opposing the construction of a livestock vehicle disinfection and washing facility and staged a protest. Photo by a reader

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters reporters Lee Jun-kyung and Choi Kyung-pil] Wando-gun, Jeollanam-do, withdrew its plan to promote a livestock vehicle disinfection facility project in front of a school after facing opposition from parents and local residents.

Criticism has arisen that the project was rushed without proper communication with residents and lacked accurate preliminary investigation during its preparation.

According to Wando-gun on the 29th, the county had been promoting the construction of a livestock vehicle disinfection and washing facility near Wando Gogeum High School since November last year.

Residents of Gogeum-myeon submitted complaints about the expected damage from this project to the county, but their concerns were not accepted, and they protested by posting banners opposing the project.

Moreover, it was revealed that the site is only about 19 meters away from Gogeum High School, and according to Article 11 (Emission Facilities), Article 12 (Treatment Facilities), and Article 24 (Public Treatment Facilities) of the Act on the Management and Use of Livestock Manure, such facilities cannot be installed there, which further fueled the controversy.

In response, the Wando Education Participation Committee agreed on the 2nd that installing a livestock vehicle disinfection facility in front of the school would severely affect the educational environment and decided to adopt a resolution opposing the project.

Committee member A stated, “Wando-gun officials claim that the Office of Education responded that installation is possible if emission standards are not exceeded, but it is unreasonable to install an environmentally harmful livestock vehicle disinfection facility in front of a school. Based on the Educational Environment Protection Act, such livestock disinfection facilities are absolutely prohibited.”

As the controversy grew, Wando-gun judged that promoting the livestock vehicle disinfection facility project in front of the school was unreasonable and decided to reconsider the project from scratch by looking for alternative locations.

Meanwhile, some criticized Wando-gun for repeatedly ignoring procedures such as resident communication, rushing projects, and only hastily addressing complaints after they arise, thereby wasting public funds.

This is not the first failure of project promotion due to Wando-gun’s lack of communication. In 2018, the issue of constructing a pigsty in Gogeum-myeon and last October, the construction of a luxury townhouse on the closed site of Daldo Elementary School in Gunoe-myeon also faced criticism for being unilaterally promoted without communication with local residents.

In particular, more than 300 million won out of the over 800 million won budget for this project has already been invested, and if it is not completed by the end of this year, the remaining budget must be returned to the government, creating a situation where there is regret over Wando-gun’s inadequate response.

A Wando-gun official explained, “Due to continuous complaints related to the disinfection facility, we decided to completely halt construction in front of the school. We are currently pursuing land acquisition in an outlying area far from the school. Because the project was suddenly stopped, the remaining national funds will be returned, and we plan to re-promote the project next year by coordinating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to allocate a separate budget.”