No road home for rejected Shiwen Village residents

Last September, Typhoon Morandi caused a number of devastating disasters across Taiwan, including a serious landslide on County Highway 146, halfway up the mountain in the direction of Shiwen Village. The landslide has caused a great deal of inconvenience to the residents of Shiwen Village in Chenri Township. Director-General of Shiwen Village Development Association, Wang Yu-ru (王玉如), said that six months have already elapsed since the landslide occurred and Pingtung County Department of Public Works has only visited the scene once, to which there has been no follow-up news. In order to commute to work and school, the severed road has meant that Shiwen’s 400-plus villagers are forced to traverse a perilous mountain road which is devoid of streetlights or asphalt and only covered with a layer of cement. In a bid to address the situation, Wang Yu-ru took the initiative of clearing a scooter-sized path along the road to ensure residents at least had a safe way in and out of the village.  

Recently, the village set up a self-help group and has not ruled out the possibility of taking up protest action. It is hoped that the county government will become more proactive and begin understanding the plight of its citizens, instead of visiting once and failing to provide any follow-up news. Employee for Pingtung County Department of Public Works contractor Lin Zi-yang (林子陽) said: ‘Repairs on County Highway 146 will cost around NT$150 million (US$4.8 million). Application for the budget has already been passed and the construction period will take three months’. With regard to villagers’ feedback on the lack of streetlights on the mountain road, Lin Zi-yang advises villagers to approach the township office for a response. Mr. Lin added that should the township office have difficulties raising such funds then residents should approach the county government, to which the safety of citizens is always a top priority. 

No road home for rejected Shiwen Village residents 

URL：http://www.peopo.org/news/330903

(以下是中文對照)

有家但無路可回 士文村民拒當二等公民

照片

去年九月份莫蘭蒂颱風造成台灣多處災情嚴重，也造成春日鄉146縣道往士文村方向半山腰路段坍崩，造成士文村居民出入嚴重不方便，春日鄉士文村社區發展協會總幹事王玉如表示，從坍崩到現在已經經過半年了，屏東縣政府養護課工務處也只有來勘查過一次，勘查過後完全沒有任何消息，目前設籍在士文村有四百多位村民，每天上班上課的主要道路斷了，只能從後山的產業道路行走，但後山產業道路目前沒有設置路燈，也沒有鋪設柏油，只有鋪上水泥，可說是險象環生。王玉如更自己帶著鋤頭，把路面先整理出一條可容納機車通過的寬度，讓居民通行。

目前士文村鄉親已經成立自救會，近日不排除發動抗議行動，也希望政府單位做事可以更積極，不要只來看了一次，卻沒有下文，任憑鄉親苦苦等候。屏東縣政府養護科工程處承辦人員林子陽表示：146縣道修復大約需要一億五千萬預算目前預算已經通過，整個施工期為三個月，至於村民反映產業道路增設路燈問題，林子陽表示可以先向鄉公所反應，若公所預算上有困難可以再向縣府反應，縣府絕對會把村民的安全放在第一。