The Control Yuan initiated corrective measures against the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) yesterday, accusing it of failing to take any action against illegal construction of hotels on Aboriginal reserves in the Lushan (廬山) hot spring resort area in Hsinyi Township (信義), Nantou County.
“Among the 41 hotel establishments in the Lushan area, only five are legal, while the remaining 24 hotels and 12 bed and breakfasts are all illegal establishments,” Control Yuan member Lin Chu-liang (林鉅鋃), who conducted a probe after the Lushan area was severely damaged by Typhoon Sinlaku last year, wrote in his investigation report.
Heavy rainfall that came with the typhoon last September caused serious mudslides in the popular hot spring resort destination.
As a result, three of the hotels — all illegal establishments — either collapsed completely or were seriously damaged, while others suffered different degrees of damage.
“Although the issue of illegal establishments has long existed, the CIP, which is in charge of Aboriginal reserves, has never taken any direct action or urged the local Hsinyi Township office to take any action against the practice,” Lin said. “The council did not properly exercise its duty in reviewing illegal renting or occupation of Aboriginal reserves in the Lushan area either.”
Lushan is part of the traditional domain of the Sediq tribe.
Meanwhile, Lin also panned several other government bodies, including the Nantou County Government, the Water Resources Agency and the Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MOTC), which is a supervising agency of the Tourism Bureau.
Lin said that although most of the hotels in the Lushan area were illegal, many of them were still recommended by the MOTC. He also accused the Nantou County Government of “delaying the process to come up with an integral regional planning project for the Lushan area.”
The CIP declined to comment when asked for response.
“We will not be able to make any comment before receiving a written copy of the Control Yuan’s correction,” CIP Vice Minister Watan Kiso said.
The Lushan case marked the second corrective measure that the Control Yuan has taken against the CIP since the beginning of the year.
The Control Yuan made another correction request to the CIP in February for a build-operate-transfer project for a luxury hotel in the Alishan (阿里山) area — the traditional domain of the Tsou tribe — in Chiayi County without getting consent from the Tsou.
The CIP is required by law to make improvements and report to the Control Yuan within two months after receiving the correction.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
PROMOTION: Travelers who want a free stopover must book their flights with designated travel agents, such as Lion Travel, Holiday Tours, Cola Tour and Life Tours Air Canada yesterday said it is offering Taiwanese travelers who are headed to North America free stopovers if they transit though airports in Japan and South Korea. The promotion was launched in response to a potential rise in demand for flights to North America in June and July next year, when the US, Canada and Mexico are scheduled to jointly host the FIFA World Cup, Air Canada said. Air Canada offers services to 13 of the 16 host cities of the tournament’s soccer games, including Toronto and Vancouver; Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey in Mexico; Atlanta, Georgia; Boston; Dallas; Houston;
RSS