Morakot victims brace for chilly winter amidst government cold shoulder treatment

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

3072 Edition

January 10-16, 2011

Headline News

Morakot victims brace for chilly winter amidst government cold 
shoulder treatment

Reported by Sam Lee

Written by Lydia Ma

Living in the midst of yet another cold front, Tsou Aborigines in 
Alishan who lost their homes during Typhoon Morakot and who currently 
live in prefabricated houses are not only feeling the chill in their 
bones but also the extreme humidity.

They are all waiting for the Ma administration to fulfill its promise 
of helping them move to safer grounds without leaving their ancestral 
lands altogether. But 18 months after Typhoon Morakot, permanent 
housing units promised by the government has yet to materialize.

More than 60 families from Leye, Lijia, Laiji reservations in Alishan 
Township have reported that room temperatures in prefabricated houses 
are too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. Hence, they 
hope to move into permanent housing units promised them by the 
government as soon as possible.

Government housing plans for Tsou Aborigines had previously been 
unacceptable to them as they’d have led them too far from their 
ancestral homes. Subsequent efforts have moved at a snail’s pace, 
resulting in harsh living conditions now for Aborigines in Alishan 
Township.

According to Aborigines living in these prefabricated houses, the 
only way for them to keep warm this winter is to build a campfire 
outside. But many still shiver under their covers as they drift off 
to sleep inside.

To help them in their plight, the Red Cross has provided them with 
small electric heaters, but the heating power of these machines is no 
match against this year’s harsh winter. 

PCT Morakot Reconstruction Center for Tsou Aborigines has been 
helping these residents secure property close to their ancestral 
homes and negotiating with government agencies to build permanent 
housing units once such a property can be secured.

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