More than 40 Tao Orchid Islanders staged a protest December 30 in Taipei, calling on the ROC Government to rectify a human rights violation arising from the storage of nuclear waste in their homeland.
“We are angry that the government has never treated Tao aboriginals as people, forcing them to live with nuclear waste created by power plants on Taiwan proper,” said longtime Tao activist Shyaman Ferngayin.
“To add salt to the wound, Tao Orchid Islanders never enjoyed the electricity produced by these facilities, yet were expected to suffer the pollution in silence for the past 30 years.”
According to Ferngayin, cancer has become the No. 1 cause of death for people on Orchid Island. “We demand the government acts immediately and removes all nuclear waste from our peaceful and pretty island.”
The Tao demonstrators produced a statement signed by all six village chiefs and directors of nongovernmental organizations on Orchid Island, or Lanyu, requesting the nuclear waste’s relocation before a long-term storage solution is found. They also urged the government to conduct health and environment checks for Taos, and open negotiations on a self-governance agreement.
The group said they would attempt to hand their statement to ROC President Ma Ying-jeou, Democratic Progressive Party Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen and People First Party Chairman James Soong.
Sources close to the Tao said the protest was sparked by a Taiwan Power study released last month confirming the possible leakage of radioactive materials from the storage facility on Lanyu.
Although the report states that levels are below safety standards set by Taiwan’s Atomic Energy Council, experts believe the situation is definitely problematic.
Former Environmental Protection Administration Minister Lin Jun-yi said he is concerned by the report’s mention of highly radioactive substances that should not be present on Orchid Island.
“Taipower has always claimed that such radioactive waste was never sent to Orchid Island,” Lin said. “There is no getting around it, the 90,000-plus barrels of waste from Taiwan dumped on the island amounts to environmental apartheid.”
Peter Chang, a professor of public health at Taipei Medical University, said highly radioactive substances were first detected all over Lanyu 10 years ago.
“But a comprehensive inspection was never conducted and it is unclear how serious the pollution and health risks have become,” Chang said. “It is the government’s responsibility to clearly explain the matter to Orchid Islanders and the people of Taiwan.”
