Gyeonggi Province Completes Demolition of 73% of Illegal Valley and Stream Facilities

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hoon] Gyeonggi Province has completed the demolition of 73% of illegal facilities in valleys and streams throughout the province.

The province plans to move beyond simply demolishing illegal facilities to implement projects that can provide practical benefits to local residents, under the direction of accelerating efforts to create 'clean valleys' through substantial support for voluntary demolition and strong penalties for non-compliance with demolition orders.

Vice Governor Lee Hwa-soon of Gyeonggi Province held a press conference at the North Building of Gyeonggi Province Government on the afternoon of the 11th and announced 'Implementation Results of the Eradication of Illegal Activities in Rivers and Valleys and Comprehensive Support Measures to Revitalize Clean Valley Restoration Areas.'

The vice governor stated, "Since September of last year, we have cooperated with cities and counties to take strong measures against illegal occupation facilities in rivers and valleys," and added, "Now is the time to consider ways to promote utilization after valley improvement and support for local residents."

He continued, "Going forward, we will implement comprehensive support measures such as the Daily-life SOC invitation projects for local merchants and residents who have actively cooperated with Gyeonggi Province's river illegal eradication measures and for residents who visit these areas, and we will make efforts to create 'clean rivers and valleys where people want to go' tailored to local conditions."

To date, the province has identified 1,392 violations across 176 streams in 25 cities and counties, with 73.3% or 1,021 of the illegal facilities demolished.

By facility type, the demolition has been completed on a total of 8,599 facilities, including 1,871 fixed-type facilities such as bridges and buildings, as well as 6,728 non-fixed-type facilities such as bungalows and tents (as of November 30).

At the same time, Governor Lee Jae-myung and Vice Governor Lee Hwa-soon have directly visited sites in Gapyeong and other areas to gather residents' opinions, conducting a total of 17 meetings and 23 on-site inspections to implement 'communicative administration.'

Additionally, the province is encouraging 'active administration' in cities and counties by utilizing its audit and budget authority. Cities and counties showing excellent improvement results will receive support such as commendations, while those with sluggish implementation will face strong measures including implementation audits, requests for investigation into collusion involving responsible civil servants, and disciplinary action.

At the same time, local residents and merchants will directly participate in the maintenance and management of the cleanly restored valleys, and based on this, the province plans to implement various projects that can revitalize both regional tourism and the economy.

Accordingly, the province plans to implement five projects: △support for Daily-life SOC amenities in clean valley restoration areas, △comprehensive support for small business owners and merchants in rivers and valleys, △organization of 'economic communities' of merchants in rivers and valleys, △promotion of attracting new tourists and revitalizing the local economy, and △community-led resident proposal project competitions.

The province plans to provide differential support prioritizing areas where restoration has been completed through voluntary demolition and other means for the five support projects.

Meanwhile, the province plans to jointly with cities and counties take administrative measures such as administrative enforcement, collection of performance penalties, and referral for prosecution against non-demolished facilities that do not comply with voluntary demolition, and for residential buildings, the province plans to complete removal by the first half of next year by demolishing facilities to prevent business operations and implementing relocation measures.

Additionally, from next year onwards, the province will continue surveillance of illegal facilities through the 'River Valley Guardian Project' linked to job creation projects, and is recommending to related government agencies institutional improvements such as expansion of the River Act and the scope of duties of special judicial police to strengthen penalties.