Residents and civic groups in Taitung County yesterday filed a petition with the Control Yuan to stop the construction of the beachfront Meiliwan Resort Hotel at Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣), whose legitimacy is still the object of legal proceedings.
Lin Shu-ling (林淑玲), a member of the Amis Aborigines living in the area, said it was the fourth time they had appealed to the Control Yuan over the matter.
The Taitung County Government signed a build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract with the developer, Meiliwan Resort Hotel Co, in December 2004 for construction of the 6-hectare hotel complex.
Worried about the destruction of the natural environment in their traditional domain, Aborigines and environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the hotel when construction began. They said the county government had split the construction site into several smaller plots, so it could avoid having to pass an environmental impact assessment review.
The county government issued a construction permit in 2005.
The activists said they suspected the county government also provided special benefits to the developer. For example, the building coverage rate increased from 10 percent — as stipulated in the BOT contract in 2004 — to 37.12 percent in the construction license the following year, while the floor area ratio increased from 30 percent to 115.45 percent, they said.
The county government also issued construction and usage licenses to the developer even after several rulings by the Kaohsiung High Administrative Court last year demanded a halt to all construction work.
Construction of the resort continued until January, Lin said, adding that there has been no response from the central government since their last petition was filed in October last year.
Meanwhile, local artists and supporters gathered at Shanyuan Bay for a month to express their opposition to the hotel through music performances and driftwood carving. They said the resort would deprive the public of the right to visit the beautiful beach.
Lin said many of the activists believe that the destruction of the environment at Shanyuan Bay is a preview of what will happen along the eastern coast of Taiwan in future, and are therefore standing up to protect their homeland.
“We built a traditional hut out of bamboo and straw at the beach, in contrast to the sudden monstrous construction of the resort hotel,” Lin said.
She added that the hut was also for pakelang, a traditional ritual for Amis going fishing at sea, or after important events such as funerals, harvest festivals or weddings.
The ritual symbolizes the washing of one’s heart and mind in the waters, Lin said.
“We believe the ritual can help us let go of our pain to achieve spiritual peace and regain strength from nature,” Lin said.
Lin said Control Yuan member Liu Hsing-shan (劉興善), who accepted their petition at Donghe Township (東河), told them he would file an official document with the county government within a week, asking why permits were still being issued to Meiliwan despite the court rulings against the project.
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