Aboriginal people's rights to use natural resources, including driftwood washed downstream by torrential rains, have been abused by the government and by dishonest contractors who collect driftwood in rivers, legislators and Aboriginal people said yesterday.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Kuo-chung (鄭國忠) said yesterday that both the government and dishonest merchants had profited from valuable wood collected from rivers after Tropical Storm Mindulle in early July.
PHOTO: TSENG HUNG-JU, TAIPEI TIMES
Due to the flooding, a huge volume of wood was washed into rivers and dams in the center of the country. High-altitude tree species such as cypress, Taiwan incense cedar (台灣肖楠) and Michelia Formosana (烏心石) are ideal materials for furniture and decorative woodworking.
Current laws entitle residents to collected driftwood one month after a natural disaster occurs. However, within the first month after the disaster, much valuable wood had already been marked by the government for collection and future sale.
"I don't see any friendly partnership between the government and Aboriginal people on this issue," Cheng said.
During a press conference in Taipei, Cheng and representatives of the Atayal played a videotape showing numerous trimmed trunks in the Techi Dam reservoir and in Tachia Creek. Comparing these with two dry trunks collected from rivers, which were also displayed to the media, Atung Yupas (
"Why are there so many trunks trimmed so regularly? Because they were cut intentionally prior to the arrival of typhoon season," Atung Yupas said.
Bowney, an Atayal, said that dishonest contractors corruptly used the government's driftwood auctions to get hold of valuable timber, and that new mountain roads facilitate illegal logging.
"In recent decades, we Aboriginal people witnessed the disappearance of verdant forests," Bowney said.
Cheng said he would seek revised laws to protect Aboriginal people's right to use natural materials to renovate their homes and churches.
Taichung County Commissioner Huang Chung-sheng (黃仲生) said yesterday that the estimated value of driftwood collected after the flooding would be at least NT$100 million, with the resulting income to benefit the Forest Bureau under the Council of Agriculture.
Statistically, more than 3,000 truckloads of valuable trees with a total volume of 2,500m3 were collected from the rivers to be sold by the bureau.
"We hope to use the unexpected income to assist victims of the flooding," Huang said.
Forestry officials have long been criticized for the driftwood collection policy, and said on Monday that there would still be some remaining driftwood for local residents to use. However, collecting driftwood from public forest lands or rivers is illegal, and violators face fines of between NT$100,000 and NT$500,000.
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