Bringing living standards for Aborigines up to that of mainstream society and helping young Aborigines pursue higher education — but not Aboriginal autonomy, for the moment at least — will be priorities of the new government, Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Chang Jen-hsiang (章仁香) said yesterday.
“As well as there being a gap in living standards between Aborigines and mainstream society, there is also one in Aboriginal communities,” Chang told a news conference.
The main task for the administration, therefore, “is to bridge the gap,” she said, adding that the first step in raising living standards in Aboriginal regions is to “work with the other ministries to come up with a project to build basic infrastructure in Aboriginal regions.”
“We’ll build farm roads, bridges, embankments, water and electrical facilities, work on water and soil conservation, and conduct safety studies on Aboriginal communities that may be threatened by mudslides,” she said.
Chang also said that increasing the Aboriginal emergency fund and providing more college scholarships to Aborigines will be two other major goals under her leadership.
“In 2007, the council issued a total of more than NT$21.5 million [US$708,000] to 3,253 people, with each receiving US$6,618 on average,” she said. “I don’t believe that amount is sufficient for Aboriginal families in an emergency.”
“We will therefore increase the total budget designated for the emergency fund to NT$39.3 million in July, so that on average each person in an emergency can receive up to NT$12,101 in emergency funds,” she said.
The council will provide more scholarships for Aborigines pursuing college degrees, she said.
When asked if Aboriginal autonomy — something that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) promised during his campaign — is on the agenda, Chang said that Aboriginal autonomy can only be realized “when all conditions are mature.”
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