The Control Yuan initiated corrective measures against the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) yesterday, accusing it of failing to take any action against illegal construction of hotels on Aboriginal reserves in the Lushan (廬山) hot spring resort area in Hsinyi Township (信義), Nantou County.
“Among the 41 hotel establishments in the Lushan area, only five are legal, while the remaining 24 hotels and 12 bed and breakfasts are all illegal establishments,” Control Yuan member Lin Chu-liang (林鉅鋃), who conducted a probe after the Lushan area was severely damaged by Typhoon Sinlaku last year, wrote in his investigation report.
Heavy rainfall that came with the typhoon last September caused serious mudslides in the popular hot spring resort destination.
As a result, three of the hotels — all illegal establishments — either collapsed completely or were seriously damaged, while others suffered different degrees of damage.
“Although the issue of illegal establishments has long existed, the CIP, which is in charge of Aboriginal reserves, has never taken any direct action or urged the local Hsinyi Township office to take any action against the practice,” Lin said. “The council did not properly exercise its duty in reviewing illegal renting or occupation of Aboriginal reserves in the Lushan area either.”
Lushan is part of the traditional domain of the Sediq tribe.
Meanwhile, Lin also panned several other government bodies, including the Nantou County Government, the Water Resources Agency and the Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MOTC), which is a supervising agency of the Tourism Bureau.
Lin said that although most of the hotels in the Lushan area were illegal, many of them were still recommended by the MOTC. He also accused the Nantou County Government of “delaying the process to come up with an integral regional planning project for the Lushan area.”
The CIP declined to comment when asked for response.
“We will not be able to make any comment before receiving a written copy of the Control Yuan’s correction,” CIP Vice Minister Watan Kiso said.
The Lushan case marked the second corrective measure that the Control Yuan has taken against the CIP since the beginning of the year.
The Control Yuan made another correction request to the CIP in February for a build-operate-transfer project for a luxury hotel in the Alishan (阿里山) area — the traditional domain of the Tsou tribe — in Chiayi County without getting consent from the Tsou.
The CIP is required by law to make improvements and report to the Control Yuan within two months after receiving the correction.
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