[3102] Indigenous tribes call Ma administration’s post-Morakot rebuilding efforts a sham

Indigenous tribes call Ma administration’s post-Morakot rebuilding efforts a sham

Reported by Chen Yi-hsuan, Lin Yi-ying

Written by Lydia Ma

Two years to the day after Typhoon Morakot devastated parts of south Taiwan, indigenous groups from Taitung, Pingtung, Kaohsiung, and Chiayi who lost their homes gathered in front of the Executive Yuan. With chants and signs such as “I don’t want Provence, I want my indigenous home rebuilt” and “0% percent rebuilding, 90% forced relocation!”, they asked the Ma administration to evaluate its performance and make needed changes to policies relating to permanent housing units.

These people who travelled long distances to Taipei were also there to protest against President Ma’s comment a day earlier where he compared their permanent housing living quarters to France’s idyllic Provence and later boasted that 90% of his administration’s objectives in rebuilding areas devastated by Typhoon Morakot had been met..

“Ma Ying-jeou never went to the heart of those towns devastated by Morakot, he only knows how to show off by visiting some permanent housing units,” Indigenous Peoples Action Coalition of Taiwan (IPACT) convener and Haising Presbyterian Church pastor, Rev. Lituan said during a press conference.

Lituan underscored the rising Misery index among indigenous groups living in permanent housing units and berated Ma for his tactless Provence comparison. Responding to the Ma administration’s claim that it was having a hard time getting necessary heavy equipment up the mountains which explained recent delays, Lituan said, “This is rubbish concocted to fool the masses. All they need to do is fix broken roads and they’ll be able to enter tribal lands and do repairs. The Ma administration should stop lying to the people!”

This press conference was attended by leaders from Amis, Bunun, Paiwan, Rukai, Tsou, Atayal, and Seediq tribes. They voiced the concerns and displeasures of these past 2 years, and underscored that many indigenous families forced to leave their old homes still had rights to the land, but were unable to return because the government wouldn’t fix broken roads leading to their former homes.  

In related news, a concert was held at National Tainan Living Arts Center on August 7, 2011 to commemorate the second anniversary of Typhoon Morakot. The concert’s purpose was to comfort and remember the victims of this tragedy through performing arts and to use it to promote and preserve indigenous peoples’ local traditions. Some performers on that day were indigenous who’d lost homes and were still waiting for government aid.

Within indigenous tribal lands badly battered by Typhoon Morakot, some Tsou indigenous groups got together inside their newly built chapels to give thanks to God for their new church buildings. Churches celebrating new chapels included Lichia, Leye, Tefuye, Sanmei, and Chasan Presbyterian churches. Church members invited their neighbors (some of whom have never heard of the gospel) to celebrate this occasion with them with good food and good music.