The special draft bill on land restoration and conservation (國土復育特別條例) should be recalled by the Executive Yuan so that it can be revised with more detailed practical solutions, Aboriginal legislators and officials said yesterday.
"Issues of tribal relocation, sustainable development and road repair concern indigenous peoples the most. The draft is moving in the right direction, but it needs to address these concerns in greater detail," Council of Indigenous Peoples Vice Chairman Pasuya Poitsonu (浦忠成) said at a forum held by the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP's) Ethnic Affairs Department.
Newly-elected DPP Legislator Dungi (
Theoretical
"The draft is basically theoretical and ignores Aboriginal peoples' voice on the matter. Besides, I think the government should carry out the National Land Development Plan (
DPP Legislator Chen Hsiu-hui (
"Land restoration and conservation should be a national issue, not the sole responsibility of Aboriginal peoples. If the government really wants the draft to benefit indigenous peoples, it can approve various budgets, such as for a forest protection fund, to assist them with practical sustainable development plans," Chen said.
Chang Ching-sen (
However, including Aboriginal peoples in the decision-making process has its difficulties, Chang said.
Devastation
"The draft is an urgent solution to the severe devastation caused by natural disasters following the 921 Earthquake. It would be time-consuming if we have to seek agreements from every tribe before making a decision," Chang said.
Pasuya suggested that Aborigines should form an independent legislative body. Through a single and representative system, Aborigines will be able to communicate with the government and express their concerns more effectively.
The Executive Yuan last month approved the special draft bill on land restoration and conservation, which proposes classifying the nation's mountainous areas into three conservation zones.
Category one areas are those higher than 1,500m, where farming, logging and land development will be banned, with the exception of Aboriginal villages consisting of more than 30 households.
Category two would cover mountainous areas between 500m and 1,500m. New farming or new developments will be banned, but existing legal operators will be allowed to remain.
Category three includes mountainous areas lower than 500m, in which any land developments are to reviewed regularly. Development in these areas also requires permission from the central government.
The draft also recommends spending NT$100 billion over the next 10 years on land restoration projects.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山) yesterday morning as a continental cold air mass sent temperatures below freezing on Taiwan’s tallest peak, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Snowflakes were seen on Yushan’s north peak from 6:28am to 6:38am, but they did not fully cover the ground and no accumulation was recorded, the CWA said. As of 7:42am, the lowest temperature recorded across Taiwan was minus-5.5°C at Yushan’s Fengkou observatory and minus-4.7°C at the Yushan observatory, CWA data showed. On Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County, a low of 1.3°C was recorded at 6:39pm, when ice pellets fell at Songsyue Lodge (松雪樓), a
RSS