Indigenous Flood Survivors Push Back on Interim Housing Plan

TaiwanPlus News

A month after a barrier lake breach triggered deadly floods in Hualien, Indigenous residents in Fata’an Village are still living in homes missing doors and windows. While the government is offering to build interim housing on public land, residents say the location is too far away and propose part of one resident's ancestral land to temporarily house the community instead.

Transcript

00:00Tidying up his beloved home with his missing doors and windows,

00:0580-year-old Anga Lo-O has been living on this property in Fata'an Village,

00:09an indigenous Taiwanese community in eastern Taiwan,

00:12since he was only six years old, and he insists on staying.

00:17But after a burial lake up in the mountains bursts his banks,

00:20sending destructive flash floods downstream,

00:23his family and neighbors' lives have been completely upended.

00:26Cracks and holes in the ceiling and a water stain on the wall

00:30serve as constant reminders of the danger from that day,

00:34when the flood nearly drowned him.

00:56A wooden house built by his father used to stand here.

01:00But the house and all the memory-filled objects inside,

01:03including books that he used to teach the Amis language when he was younger,

01:07were washed away by the flash floods.

01:09For almost a week,

01:39Anga's family had no idea where he was, embraced for the worst.

01:44It was a huge relief to the family when they reunited,

01:47but their home is no longer the same.

01:49The government is offering a piece of public land for interim housing,

02:17for people whose houses are almost uninhabitable.

02:21But Fata'an village says the location is several kilometers away from their village,

02:26threatening their societal function and traditions,

02:29as shown by a self-help group formed by young people driven by their sense of duty.

02:34Instead, they're proposing that the government rents one of their ancestral lands,

02:38which sits in the middle of town and is owned by one of the villagers.

02:42But our village needs to be a community,

02:45a self-help group,

02:47to allow the whole village,

02:49not because of such a flood,

02:51and the whole community is divided,

02:53and divided,

02:53and you can see the東 and the西.

02:55So our village will be able to establish this place.

02:59When we heard that we were able to go to the ground,

03:02they didn't realize it was too late.

03:04It was too late,

03:05and there were a lot of people who were not familiar,

03:07The legislature has passed a special budget for the flood disaster in Guangfu,

03:18with a maximum of 970 million U.S. dollars.

03:22It also stated that local community and culture should be respected in any decision to rebuild the town.

03:29As the government evaluates different spots for interim housing,

03:32the local indigenous community will make sure they speak up for themselves.

03:36Devin Tsai, Luffy Lee, Alec McDonald, and Irene Lin in Hualien for Taiwan Plus.

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