Nearly 31 years after the Tao of Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) first marched to remove the “evil spirits” — the nearly 100,000 barrels of nuclear waste placed on the island between 1982 and 1996 — from their homeland, justice is finally being served. A report on Minister Without Portfolio Lin Wan-i’s (林萬億) investigation into the issue, released in December last year, does not mention any cannery either, but it does state that the decision to dump nuclear waste on the island was made in secret. Even then, Taipower officials tried to reassure residents that the waste was harmless. Nevertheless, it was still a huge injustice to the Tao and the government is finally owning up to its mistake, continuing its work on transitional justice. The next step, the report says, is to look into Taipower’s claim that the waste has not harmed the island’s residents, but if that is not the case, help them obtain better medical access.

Source: Taipei Times November 26, 2019 15:56 UTC