Hongye’s long road to find a lasting home

The village of Hongye in Taitung’s Yanping Township is a typical Bunun tribal village, where living a decent and honorable life is more esteemed than making lots of money. Village houses are built into the gentle mountain slopes and on the extremely limited flat land, villagers grow corn, peanuts, pineapples and various other crops. In 2013, the county government’s proposed urban development plan, Hongye Special District (紅葉溫泉風景特定區), left the villagers of Hongye and Taoyuan shell-shocked because they were afraid it would be similar to development projects in the villages of Dongpu and Jhihben, where villagers were forced from their homes.  

This year, Typhoon Meranti deluged Taitung in torrential rain for several days and Hongye Village was evacuated due to huge landslides. The village was left in a shocking state of devastation with the original cement road running through the village being transformed into a river of mud and rock. Following the cleanup operation, villagers expressed their aspirations to build new homes next to Hongye Elementary School; however, unless plans for Hongye Special District can be altered, such a reconstruction plan would be unfeasible. Taitung County Public Works Bureau proposed a way to handle the villagers’ misgivings but did not respond positively to residents’ demands that the urban planning project should be revoked.

Following a security assessment at a meeting of the Executive Yuan’s Public Construction Commission, it was confirmed that there is a need to relocate Hongye Village. At present, however, with a site for the new village yet to be confirmed and the necessary NT$200 million relocation funds yet to be found, villagers are becoming increasingly restless. Villagers insist on pursuing their own route for Hongye Village, but they have to face a harsh climate and fragile geological environment, as well as the looming threat of the development of Hongye Special District, so their journey is far from over.  

Hongye’s long road to find a lasting home

URL：https://www.peopo.org/news/322535

(以下是中文對照)

紅葉遷建路漫漫，何處是我家?

照片

台東縣延平鄉紅葉部落是典型的布農族部落，部落族人安貧樂道，在山林緩坡依山闢建住居，在極其有限的平地種植玉米、花生、鳳梨等作物。民國102年縣府提出紅葉溫泉風景特定區都市計畫，對紅葉、桃源村民來說宛如投下震撼彈。族人害怕自己即將跟隨東埔、知本等部落開發一樣流離失所。

今年莫蘭蒂颱風為台東帶來連續幾天的大豪雨，紅葉村因土石流而大撤村，原本水泥路卻成了土石流的河道，景象觸目驚心。清淤完畢後，對於日後的重建，村民表達在紅葉國小旁平地蓋屋意願，但是因為受限於紅葉溫泉都市計畫區限制，除非變更設計，否則重建方案並不可行。台東縣政府都市計畫科對民眾的疑慮提出了縣府的處理原則，但是對於居民撤銷都市計畫區的訴求並未正面回應。

行政院工程會委員會議已確認，經安全評估，紅葉村確有遷建之必要性，但由於遷建基地尚未確定，加上高達兩億元的遷建經費目前還無著落，村民內心忐忑不安。堅持走自己路線的紅葉部落面對惡劣的氣候和脆弱的地質環境，以及都市計畫區開發的威脅，還有漫漫的長路要走。