Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday backtracked on remarks he made this weekend that he did not relish giving Aborigines the choice of continuing to live on their original tribal lands or relocating to villages newly built to accommodate victims affected by a deadly typhoon in August last year.
“I respect anyone who plans to [join the protest] to voice his or her opinions [on the government’s policies on post-Typhoon Morakot reconstruction], and I understand their feelings. I will conduct self-evaluation and work on that [policy],” Wu said.
He made the remarks in response to a planned overnight protest on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office on Friday night.
The protest was organized by Taiwan Aboriginal Tribes Action, a coalition of groups of victims of Morakot, which criticized the government for forcing the victims to move off of their native land.
Wu came under fire after telling a forum on Sunday, organized to highlight government achievements in post-Morakot reconstruction, that some Aboriginal activists who refused to relocate were “obstinate.”
“The government has spent several billion [dollars] building bridges and roads that have been washed away whenever there is a typhoon. There were occasions when military officers had to go by helicopter and risk their lives to save others ... People who care about Aborigines should encourage them to move out of dangerous [traditional lands],” Wu said.
Cabinet officials also called a press conference yesterday amid allegations that the government had forcefully removed typhoon victims who refused to relocate.
After experts inspected 291 typhoon-ravaged sites, the government determined that 19,191 people, or about 6,300 households, lived in unsafe areas.
About three-quarters of affected people are Aborigines.
Post-Typhoon Morakot Reconstruction Commission vice chairman Chen Chen-chuan (陳振川) said that as of February, about two-thirds, or 11,707 people, still lived in tribal areas, while the remainder lived in permanent housing built for the victims.
“This shows that we did not force victims to relocate to permanent houses,” Chen said.
Of the 291 sites examined, 136 were considered safe to live and 155 unsafe.
Chen said the reconstruction commission held 115 conferences to explain its relocation policy to people living in the unsafe areas and 141 meetings in which officials consulted with residents on their willingness to relocate.
The relocation of typhoon victims involved officials from the central government and local governments, as well as local politicians and residents, Chen said.
“We respect everyone’s choice to either live where they originally lived or to move into permanent houses,” Chen said.
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