The government has found 63 Aboriginal villages to be unsafe or partly unsafe in the wake of Typhoon Morakot and is still communicating with residents concerning their relocation, Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Sun Ta-chuan (孫大川) said yesterday.
At a press conference at the Government Information Office, Sun touted the progress the government had made in helping Aborigines who lost land and property to rebuild their hometowns and find employment.
The government commissioned geologists to assess the safety of 90 Aboriginal villages hit by Typhoon Morakot last August. The geologists concluded that 44 were unsafe for habitation, 19 partly unsafe and 27 safe, Sun said.
Sun said 19 villages were in desperate need of land restoration and should be off-limits to various human activities depending on the location. For example, some were no longer suitable for farming. Those 19 villages included Jialan (嘉蘭), Fushan (富山) and Dajhu (大竹) in Taitung County, among others.
However, the government will not designate the villages as unsuitable for certain activities without the consent of local residents, Sun said. At the same time, it will insist that relocation is necessary for safety reasons.
The government says about 70 percent of areas affected by Typhoon Morakot and its floodwaters were Aboriginal villages.
Sun said the council had offered about 2,700 jobs lasting between two months and six months each to Aborigines in affected areas to clean and rebuild their villages.
The council will continue to work with local governments and agricultural authorities to help affected Aborigines sell their agricultural products and will hold more nationwide promotional activities to support their agricultural industry.
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
The New Taipei City Government today warned about the often-overlooked dangers of playing in water, and recommended safe swimming destinations to cool off from the summer heat. The following locations in the city as safe and fun for those looking to enjoy the water: Chienshuiwan (淺水灣), Baishawan (白沙灣), Jhongjiao Bay (中角灣), Fulong Beach Resort (福隆海水浴場) and Sansia District’s (三峽) Dabao River (大豹溪), New Taipei City Tourism and Travel Department Director-General Yang Tsung-min (楊宗珉) said. Outdoor bodies of water have variables outside of human control, such as changing currents, differing elevations and environmental hazards, all of which can lead to accidents, Yang said. Sudden
RSS