11/12 “Dancing for Sra”

Futuru Tsai

Youths from Dulan protecting Dulan Point—Our Manifesto

“Pacifalan” is the name given to the rocky prominence—otherwise known as Dulan Point—by the Amis people who live in the region, for whom it is the sacred site from which their ancestors are said to originate. Older members of our communities often come here, look to the sky, and observe the weather. It is the place for festivals to be held. For all Amis communities in Dulan, it is their ancestral territory.

In 2001, the Ministry of Transportation and Communication’s Tourism Bureau East Coast National Scenic Area Headquarters (ECNSA) signed a BOT[i] contract leasing approximately 30 hectares of Dulan Point in order to build a resort park. Many Amis signed a petition voicing their disapproval, and started a protest movement. Regardless of their efforts, the ECNSA continued to hold a project briefing in 2003. On the occasion of this briefing, the Amis peoples’ protest grew more intense; local playwright Chen Ming-tsai even drowning himself in protest. Following his suicide, work on the BOT temporarily halted, but the ECNSA never gave up. Behind the scenes they continued to collaborate with industrial conglomerates to advance their plans.

In September 2001, the ECNSA restarted the BOT plans. This time their briefing announced that the work would lead to the full-scale tourism development of Dulan Point. Under these plans, the ECNSA announced that they would diligently hold genuine explanatory briefings, and continue to explain their position until they received the understanding and support of all community members. In reality, they were trying to get their hands on a large chunk of land for BOT development, by offering in exchange to “lend” the local people a small peripheral area. This is daylight robbery; explanatory briefings intended only to conceal the true BOT intentions. The very first provision stated in the minutes from a meeting by an internal group at the ECNSA states, “Advancing the BOT project is a prerequisite.” The ECNSA minutes explicitly aims to deceive the Amis people. Were their explanatory sessions only fabrications made in order to carry out the BOT?

Additionally, document 1000003746 from the Environmental Protection Administration Executive Yuan states clearly on the third page, on the first clause under (II): the development project “will be temporarily halted, and regarding the execution of the ECNSA’s plans and any changes to scheduled observation work, directions will be given separately.” Regardless of this statement, the ECNSA went ahead with their work. Who (which politician) gave them this direction, then?

The protest movement in Dulan has been continuing for ten years already. Initially local leaders and elders led the movement, but now it is the time for younger members of the community to take the reins. This time, it is the young men and women who have to defend our ancestral territories. But, this problem is not limited to a single community. We want to connect with other communities through the activism work being carried out on this occasion by the Amis people of Dulan. We want to face these difficulties together, and together embrace our new situation.

At present:

1) The tourism development project spearheaded by the government does not abide by articles 20-23 of the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law—it is illegal. The government wants only to punish the indigenous people and steal their ancestral territory.

2) In all countries, the power of indigenous communities in the face of national or industrial tourism development is weak, and they are being ignored. Indigenous peoples are robbed of their land, while big business and investors from outside the region reap the profits.

3) The tourism development policies being pursued in the indigenous peoples’ territories are not compatible with Indigenous Peoples Basic Law. The government has to take full responsibility for this hypocrisy.

4) Execution of the BOT contract will have a huge impact on the society, culture and lifestyles of the Amis people who live in Dulan. The environmental assessment reports that are published do not take these factors into account, but is it really possible for the ecological makeup of the land and the traditional lifestyle of the Amis people to be maintained after large-scale tourism industry has been brought to the region?

Our demands are as follows:

1) The government must immediately cease BOT development plans on Dulan Point. They must return to the Amis people their ancestral territory.

2) All of the work carried out by the ECNSA pertains to the land lived in by generation after generation of indigenous peoples. In terms of organization, it is strange for the ECNSA to be placed within the Ministry of Transport and Communication. Whichever way you look at it, it should be either transferred to a committee of indigenous peoples, or alternatively, scrapped altogether.

3) All development projects to be carried out on ancestral lands should be decided with the full participation of community members, and community members should be fully involved in the management of those plans, as they have been traditionally.

The above statement and list of demands was presented at the “Dancing for Sra” event held by the Dulan Amis people on 12 November 2011. On this occasion, a presidential candidate, officials from the ECNSA, and electoral candidates from indigenous communities showed their agreement and signed our document.

[i] BOT: Build, Operate and Transfer. A type of arrangement in which the private sector builds an infrastructure project, operates it and eventually transfers ownership of the project to the government. While operating the project, the private corporation uses the earnings to repay its investors.