President Ma Ying-Jeou, Premier Wu Den-Yih of the Executive Yuan, CEO Lin Join-Sane and Deputy CEO Chern Jenn-Chuan of Reconstruction Council, Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-Huah, Minister Wu Ching-Ji from the Ministry of Education, Deputy Minister Xia Jin-Long from Council of Indigenous Peoples and legislator Chien Tung-Ming, Speaker of Taitung County Council Rao Ching Ling and Council Member Song Xian-Yi, Magistrate Justin Huang of Taitung County, Jinfeng Township Mayor Chang Cheng-Hui and World Vision Taiwan Executive Director Hank Du visited Jinfeng Township’s Kaaluwan second base permanent housing today (14th) to see how the residents were settling in.

The President was warmly welcomed by residents upon arriving on site, who thanked the Government for providing them with a safe and secure living environment. Township Mayor Chang gave a briefing on the reconstruction settlement and residence status. The Lovely Taiwan Foundation CEO Hsu Lu gave a presentation on Kaaluwan Village industry coaching results, and executive director Wen Ko presented ceramic bead souvenirs to the President and Premier.

Later, the President visited the permanent housing and entered Lee Hu-Lau’s home to congratulate him with a celebratory red envelope for his 80th birthday. Mr. Lee was overjoyed that the President took the time to visit him on his birthday during this third call to Kaaluwan Village. He exclaimed that it was the highest honor ever bestowed upon him. Finally, the President had photographs taken with the delighted residents and shook their hands warmly before bidding them farewell.

Back in 2005, 15 households in Kaaluwan second base also lost their homes due to the disastrous flood brought on by Typhoon Haitang, but the Government did not have any special regulations or related emergency procedures at that time, so their resettlement was delayed for years. In order to expedite the process so that affected residents could finally move into their new homes, the President put in a special request for Reconstruction Council Deputy CEO Chern and Taitung County Magistrate Huang to assist with resettling these 15 households. According to the mechanism of the Special Act specified by the Reconstruction Council, such affected areas are now also considered regions affected by Typhoon Morakot, and will be included in the reconstruction process as the permanent housing construction in Kaaluwan Village’s second base begins. The President also thanked World Vision Taiwan for its donations and Jinfeng Township for their full efforts that led to the completion of permanent housing before the end of last year (2010), allowing residents to move into a safe, secure location before Chinese New Year (29th Jan). The President also gave the residents his best wishes.

The Reconstruction Council, Council of Indigenous People, Taitung County Government and related official units actively negotiated with tribal victims and listened to their pleas during the reconstruction process of Kaaluwan Village’s permanent housing, where the guiding principle of being “far from disaster but not far from home” was finalized. The tribal chieftain-centered lifestyle will be restored and its cultural importance respected. Construction methods such as tribal self-delegation and tribesmen working for themselves will be implemented. The Kaaluwan Village Industry Rebuilding and Development Plan will be initiated to assist affected residents through establishing the BaYi Studio and 3 subsidiary plans (technical upgrades, rebranding, and industry marketing) to increase the economic self-reliance of tribal women.

In addition, construction of the Kaaluwan Village Tribal Square is currently underway. It will assist in creating a traditional gathering place that the tribe has long desired, so that the tribe may have a place to gather, share, and continue cultural traditions; the tribal square acts as a focal point of tribal culture to strengthen the connection between tribesmen. Advancement in training will be achieved through the promotion of the Talent Development and Employment Plan that combines the development association and local community’s human resources with resources from Government departments, utilizing people’s creativity and power of self-delegation, nourishing the tribal development team, maintaining and extending the diverse culture of indigenous people, developing local specialty industries and social economic enterprises, establishing contracted indigenous community owned operations, and exploring local employment opportunities. All these efforts aim to achieve the ultimate ideal of “being far from disaster but not far from home”.