Fri, Oct 22, 1999 page2

• Amis build their own homes

  SELF HELP A number of Aboriginals from Hualien and Taitung have decided that it would be quicker to get the job of reconstruction done if they did it themselves

  • By Yu Sen-lun / STAFF REPORTER
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  While the government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are working hard to build temporary houses for residents in areas destroyed by the 921 earthquake, another group has decided to take the matter into its own hands.

  With the help of legislators, a group of Aboriginals who work in the greater Taichung area has been granted two plots of lands from the central government to build its own shelters.

  Naming the area "Self-Power New Village" (|蛘j新村), the 400 Amis, originally from Hualien and Taitung, are setting up their own post-quake communities in Tai-chung County. Many of them are construction workers.

  

  Residents from Taiping township in Taichung County build their own houses on land belonging to the Water Resources Bureau to alleviate the inconvenience of tent life. Most houses in the township were destroyed during the 921 earthquake.

  PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMESN

  In the Chelungpu (車籠埔) district of Taiping City (?茈-市), dozens of carpenters on Wednesday were building houses on a 1,000-square-meter plot of land. Scrap particle board, wooden frames and old building materials were used for the construction of the 50-odd houses.

  Chen Wen-ming (3?憍?, chairman of the Taiping City Aboriginal Life Improvement Association (?茈-市-鮐磳薔肮“龠i協會), said the government had been ignoring them, so they had to help themselves.

  "Our houses were seriously damaged, but we were kicked out by our landlords after the quake," he said.

  Jin Lai-ying (金來-^), a convener of the association, said many of their tribespeople were renting apartments in Taichung County, but they had difficulty claiming housing compensation.

  According to the compensation regulations, tenants are required to prove their residence either through borough wardens or by presenting their rental agreement.

  But Jin said some wardens refused to endorse papers for Aboriginals, while other tenants did not sign contracts with their landlords to begin with.

  "Even if a few tribespeople did receive compensation for their collapsed houses, we doubted that we would be allocated temporary houses," Jin said.

  Before the 921 earthquake, the Amis lived in Taiping City, Wufeng township and Tali City in Taichung County. Some have lived in the area for more than 10 years, according to Jin.

  "We usually get in touch for tribal festivals or church acti-vities," said Chen.

  And as Amis have traditionally lived in groups, they decided to build a place of their own.

  The Self-Power New Village with its wooden shacks in an urban setting resembles the well-known Huatung New Village (花東新村), another Amis settlement in Hsichih (|??/CHINESE>) in Taipei County.

  Originally a group of temporary shacks erected to house construction workers, Huatung New Village is a complex of wooden huts where hundreds of Amis from Hualien and Taitung live.

  Until a year and a half ago, the group was squatting on the site without electricity.

  When their situation came to light, President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) visited Hsichih and promised to improve their standard of living. Villagers received house number plates only two months ago, with which they could apply to Tai-power for electrical hook-ups.

  Unlike the group in Hsichih, the Amis in Taichung benefitted from several legislators who helped secure the plot of land for the building project.

  KMT legislator Lin Cheng-er (林正?G) said that when he heard that residents were planning to build on a plot of dangerous riverside land, he decided to help them find public plots for them to use.

  The two plots, both of which are owned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Water Resour-ces Bureau (?籈Q3B), were found in Wufeng and Taiping. Residents said KMT legislators Chan Jen-hsiang (31???/CHINESE>) and Yang Jen-fu (楊?笑?/CHINESE>) had also helped by lobbying the bureau.

  At the beginning of this month, the bureau agreed to lease the two plots of land for a year, rent-free.

  According to Chen, construction on the houses will be finished in 10 days. Each house will be 10 pings in size. And unlike the Huatung New Village, water and electricity supply will be available soon, said Taiping City official Chang Kwe-ming (張桂銘).

  Some social workers, however, questioned the motivation behind the plan.

  Wu Hui-hua (吳惠華), a social worker for Aboriginal affairs who works for World Vision Taiwan, said some residents were not genuinely left homeless by the earthquake.

  "Some of them only had minor damage to their houses," she said. "Partly because they had difficulty negotiating with landlords and partly because they had difficulty paying their rent after the quake, they left their old houses and crowded into the building project."

  The temporary housing will not solve the problem, said another social worker.

  "What they need is more legal information and safeguards for their housing in urban areas, not another ghetto with only one year of security," said a social worker who preferred anonymity.

  Responding to the criticism, Lin Cheng-er said the project was indeed "an alternative settlement measure." He admitted the possibility that some not severely affected by the quake could be taking advantage of the situation.

  But he said urban Aboriginals were indirectly affected by the disaster, and their plight needed to be addressed.

  "They are nomads who work on scaffoldings. I hope the government will have the consideration to plan a permanent community for them after the contract ends," he said.
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