The Nantou County Government on Saturday held a public hearing on the environmental impact of a hotel project at Peacock Park, while Thao Aborigines protested the build-operate-transfer (BOT) project.
Peacock Park, located by Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) in Nantou’s Yuchih Township (魚池) covering 1.6 hectares, was the county government’s property.
The park was closed in October last year, with its peacocks transported to other places. Its land was rezoned and opened for a tender.
Photo: Hsieh Chieh-yu, Taipei Times
Developer Peacock Park Tourism Co won the tender and was granted an operation permit for 50 years, and was required to hold at least two public hearings on the project’s environmental impact assessment.
Thao Aborigines, whose roots are in the region and who often hold traditional cultural activities at the park, objected to the rezoning, Thao National Assembly secretary-general Chen Chung-chun (陳忠俊) said.
In a community meeting, 57 attending families all voted against the BOT project, but the county government did not respect their opinions or the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act (原住民族基本法), Chen said.
If the county government insists on the development, it will see whether it is the excavators or the Aborigines’ bodies that are stronger, they said.
As Peacock Park has not yet been officially declared Aboriginal land, its demarcation is still under discussion by the central government, the county’s Tourism Office Director Wang Yuan-chung (王源鍾) said, adding that the project is proceeding according to the law.
The county government has also set up regulations regarding compensation for those participating in tourism-related construction projects, he said.
Once the county government collects revenue from developments in local Aboriginal regions, it will allocate a certain proportion to the county’s development fund for Aborigines, he added.
The developer said 30 percent of the hotel’s employees will be county residents, adding that selecting local food and ingredients will be a priority.
A space for selling works of art will be reserved for Aborigines, it said, adding that it plans to help Thao people establish connections and a crowdfunding platform for promoting their cultural products.
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