Aboriginal landowners in the area around Taroko Gorge in eastern Taiwan have decided to return on Monday to sow and plow tracts of farmland that they say Asia Cement stole from them some 27 years ago.
About 300 Aboriginal landowners have asked Asia Cement to remove fences, buildings and machines before a Monday deadline from the lands that they claim their ancestors handed down to them, said Tien Chun-chou (
Committee members, including Aboriginal legislators Payen Talu (
According to Tien, the Taiwan Provincial Aboriginal Affairs Committee filed a lawsuit with the Hualien District Court in January 1999 against Asia Cement for illegally occupying the land. The Hualien District Court ruled in favor of the Aborigines on Aug. 10 last year, saying Asia Cement must return the land.
Tien said that company has still not complied with the ruling and has continued operating on the land, adding that no government agency has stepped in to enforce the court ruling.
The landowners notified Asia Cement of their decision to reclaim the land in a joint letter written March 6, in the hopes that the company will do what it should before Monday's deadline.
The decision by the landowners, made up of members of the Taroko, Atayal and Amis tribes, to reclaim the land will mark the largest Aboriginal land reclamation in Taiwan in recent decades, if carried out.
Legislators Payen Talu and Walis Pelin said they are throwing their full support behind the landowners and will help them to claim compensation from Asia Cement for occupation of the land over the past 27 years.
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