President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit Orchid Island (蘭嶼, Lanyu) today to discuss the issue of nuclear waste storage with local residents, the Presidential Office said yesterday.
Tsai is to meet with a senior member of the island’s Tao Aboriginal community and visit a kindergarten.
She is also to attend a forum during which she is to address such issues as nuclear waste storage and garbage disposal on the island, the office said.
On Aug. 1, Tsai issued a formal apology on behalf of the government to Aborigines for the discrimination and neglect they have suffered over the past 400 years.
In her apology, Tsai said she would direct government agencies to present an investigative report on the decisionmaking process of nuclear waste storage on the island.
Before finding a permanent solution for the issue of nuclear waste storage, Tsai said her government would provide the Tao with appropriate compensation.
Local residents had received more than NT$2.1 billion (US$66.9 million) as of the end of May from state-run utility Taiwan Power Co and the Atomic Energy Council since a low-level nuclear waste storage facility was built on the island in 1982.
During her visit today, Tsai will again apologize to the Aborigines, sources said.
The government plans to send representatives to Aboriginal communities around Taiwan to explain the formation of the Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Commission as part of the Presidential Office.
Before Sept. 30, the government also plans to review regulations to ensure that the Pingpu people receive the rights and status it deserves, the sources said.
In addition, the Executive Yuan has been instructed to convene the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act Promotion Committee to coordinate Aboriginal affairs, they said.
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