Print

Mail

wiki links

Kaohsiung mayor backs Aboriginal cultural park

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said yesterday that she supports the construction of an Aboriginal cultural park and assembly hall and hopes that the facility can be completed within her term.

Chen made the remarks during a question-and-answer session at the Kaohsiung City Council when Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Councilor Lin Kuo-chuan (林國權) urged her to make the employment and settlement of indigenous peoples a priority so that their “high expectations of the city government” would not be disappointed.

Chen said that Kaohsiung was richer and more beautiful because of its cultural diversity. She urged Commission of Indigenous Affairs head Eteng Ingay to heed Lin’s views so that the park could be completed by the time her term ends in 2010.

Lin said that the 12,000 indigenous people residing in Kaohsiung have never had a suitable assembly place.

Lin asked the commission to plan and select a plot of land on which to build the cultural park and assembly hall.

Lin also criticized a commission-sponsored Aboriginal harvest festival last Saturday as “poorly organized and chaotic,” saying it “failed to convey the spirit and soul of the Aboriginal people.”

He told Eteng Ingay that the activities sponsored by the commission should reflect the spirit of indigenous peoples.

The city councilor complained that the city government has been stalling on the Aboriginal cultural park, adding that finding a suitable location for the park has been hit by long delays.
This story has been viewed 1089 times.