Several members of the Tao Aboriginal community yesterday reiterated their decades-long demand that the government remove nuclear waste from Taitung County’s Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), saying that they would not accept the NT$2.55 billion (US$83.57 million) in compensation President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) promised in the run-up to the Jan. 11 elections.
Since construction of a storage site was finished in 1982, more then 100,000 barrels of low-level radioactive waste have been transported from nuclear power plants on Taiwan proper to the outlying island, without obtaining residents’ consent in advance.
During a visit to Taitung on Friday last week, Tsai, who is seeking re-election as the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate, pledged NT$2.55 billion in damages to Lanyu’s Tao community.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
In addition, the government is to offer NT$220 million in compensation every three years until the nuclear waste is completely removed, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka said later that day, adding that guidelines for the reparations had last month been approved by Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and that a fund management board that includes local residents would be established.
“We will not take a penny of the compensation, as we can catch fish and grow sweet potatoes to feed ourselves,” Tao elder and anti-nuclear power campaigner Capen Nganaen said yesterday at a protest in front of the Executive Yuan in Taipei, accompanied by environmental protection groups.
The Tao-language remarks by 83-year-old Capen, who in 2016 became a presidential adviser after accepting an apology to Aborigines by Tsai, were translated into Chinese by Syamen Fengayan, another Tao.
Tsai’s administration has not shown that it is sincere about wanting to relocate the nuclear waste and she is trying to buy off the Tao before the elections, Capen said, calling the president “a liar.”
Kolas said that Minister Without Portfolio Lin Wan-i (林萬億) — convener of a Cabinet task force formed to probe the truth about nuclear waste storage on Lanyu — had obtained consent for the compensation from the majority of Tao after talks over the past three years.
However, Lanyu Primary School president Syamen Womzas said that the decision to accept the compensation was not unanimous, adding that the Cabinet’s guidelines are not legitimate, as no advance notice was given before their publication.
The DPP government should enact a bill on compensation and nuclear waste disposal that passed a first reading at the Legislative Yuan three years ago, rather than adopt administrative guidelines, he said.
The NT$2.55 billion should instead be used as a budget for relocating the nuclear waste, Syamen Womzas said.
The government should establish a platform to discuss how to handle the nuclear waste and related compensation, while also continuing to reveal the storage site’s buried history, he said.
After meeting with Tao representatives inside the Executive Yuan, Lin told them he would deliver their opinions to Tsai and Su, the National Nuclear Abolition Action Platform said in a statement.
While Lin promised to continue delving into the site’s history, the statement cited him as saying that another budget would be allocated to relocate the nuclear waste, without elaborating.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
RSS