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Aborigines protest resort permit
‘UNDER-THE-TABLE DEALS’?Although a High Administrative
Court ruling called for a halt to the development, the Taitung County Government
issued a new permit
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
Amis Aborigines from Fudafudak village in
Taitung County and their supporters demonstrate in front of the Presidential
Office yesterday.
PHOTO: CNA
Amis Aborigines from a small coastal village in Taitung County and their
supporters staged a demonstration in front of the Presidential Office on
Ketagalan Boulevard yesterday, protesting the county government’s issuance of
permits for the operation and expansion of a beach resort hotel in their
traditional domain without their consent despite court rulings against the
development project.
“The Taitung County Commissioner is like a king in the county who can give out
Taitung’s mountains, land and the ocean to anyone at his will,” said Panai
Runilaowang, a native of the Amis village of -Fudafudak — administratively known
as Fushan Village (富山) in Beinan Township (卑南) — right on the edge of the resort
project.
“Responding to the court rulings, the county government said it has already
signed a contract with the developer and it has to go by the contract,” Panai
said. “But did they ever ask us, the villagers of Fudafudak?”
The controversy started in 2004 when the county government permitted the
construction of the beachfront Meiliwan Resort Hotel (美麗灣渡假村) on Shanyuan Bay
(杉原灣).
Not willing to give up their -traditional domain and worried about the
environmental impact that a large tourist resort could bring, residents and
environmentalists protested and filed lawsuits as soon as the construction
started.
Despite several court rulings against the project, the county government
repeatedly appealed and at the same time proceeded with the legal processes
required for the resort’s operation.
When environmental groups challenged the lack of a pre--construction
environmental impact assessment for the resort in 2005, the county government
divided the plot of land into -several smaller plots. This made the surface area
of each plot smaller than the surface area that must undergo an -environmental
impact assessment.
When the Kaohsiung High Administrative Court handed down a renewed ruling on
Sept. 7 asking the county government to order a halt on all construction and
operation, the county government responded by giving the resort a new operating
permit on Sept. 21.
The county government said that since the resort had filed an application for
permission in accordance with regulations, the city government therefore issued
the permit in line with due process.
While the previous permit was voided by the court ruling, the operation of the
resort hotel could continue, since a new permit has been -issued, the county
government said.
“When the court orders a stop to the development project, it means that
construction and -operation should all be halted. It doesn’t make sense that the
county government responded by giving them a new permit,” said Thomas Chan
(詹順貴), an attorney who has worked closely with environmental groups. “There may
be some under-the-table deals going on. We’ll file a lawsuit with the Taitung
District Prosecutors’ Office next week.”
Chan said that aside from environmental laws, the Aboriginal Basic Act (原住民族基本法)
stipulates that Aboriginal residents must be consulted before such a project can
be started in their traditional domain, “which the county government failed to
do as well.”
Lending his support to the -protest, former Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP)
minister Icyang Parod appeared at the demonstration and called on current CIP
Minister Sun Ta-chuan (孫大川) to intervene to protect Aboriginal rights.
While Sun had not responded to the Taipei Times’ request for comments as of
press time, a high-level council official who wished to -remain anonymous said
that since the law defining Aboriginal traditional domains has yet to be
adopted, “the county government still has the final say in this case.”
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