The vibrating Hongye tribe 01 "geothermal drilling interferes with the controversy among the villagers. The county government says that private land does not need the consent of the tribe, and the regulations around the group are vague.

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There was another controversy over green energy. Swedish businessman Beiselrod went to Hongye Village, Wanrong Township, Hualien to drill for geothermal heat. The low-frequency noise and vibration drilled for 24 hours seriously affected the lives of residents, and even triggered a backlash without the consent of the tribe.

The residents of Hongye Village held a tribal meeting to ask for a suspension of work, but the county government unexpectedly advocated that the case was private land development, and the tribe had no right to refuse. Angry tribesmen hung banners all over the village to organize an anti-geothermal self-help meeting, and held a tribal march on October 3, demanding that "tribal autonomy should be implemented and geothermal developers should withdraw from the tribe immediately."

Legal scholars believe that the aborigines will interpret the law incorrectly and exclude private land development from the "right to obtain tribal consent for indigenous land development", which is the biggest origin of this dispute. On the other hand, environmental protection groups believe that underground geothermal resources should be public resources, and should never be defined as private resources and allowed for private development because of drilling sites, and called on this case to respect the "right of tribal consultative consent" and return the right to development to be shared with the tribes.

Hongye villagers held a parade to protest against geothermal engineering disturbance (Photography / Lin Jiyang) drilling project low-frequency noise interference, residents have nowhere to hide and freak out

There are two Hongye tribes in Taiwan. One is in Yanping Township, Taitung County, which is the birthplace of Shaobao. The other is in Wanrong Township, Hualien. This red leaf tribe, formerly known as "Yuefu Nan", is located in the Central Mountains in the west and the Mizuho Hot Spring settlement in the east. It was originally a peaceful village. Since June this year, villagers found that many trucks carrying large machinery began to enter the tribe, and heavy vehicles illegally drove on tribal roads at night, and the noise in the middle of the night was deafening, causing dissatisfaction among residents. The township head and the village head who lived in the tribe had to come forward to coordinate.

After coordination between manufacturers and tribal cadres, the two sides agreed to hold a tribal meeting on July 11, and the company explained that due to the hot and narrow venue, many villagers signed in and left immediately. With the consent of less than 30 villagers, the manufacturer led the meeting to come to the conclusion that the tribe agreed to the development, and the sign-in book thought that the tribal consent had been obtained.

The manufacturer explained afterwards that according to the instructions of the county government, this case is a private land drilling act, and there is no need to obtain the consent of the tribe, only a "briefing meeting" is required, so the developer has made the greatest obligation to inform.

Since July 14, manufacturers have been digging wells for 24 hours. The low-frequency vibration and noise at night have seriously affected the tribe's work and rest, causing anxiety and insomnia among residents. The villagers knew that the problem was serious and reported to the Environmental Protection Bureau that the manufacturers continued to carry out construction day and night after the penalty was imposed, thoroughly infuriating the villagers.

On the day of the tribal Thanksgiving Festival on August 22, when geothermal manufacturers sponsored and attended the event, tribal resident Peng Changfu took the lead in holding up white cloth strips to protest against the construction, and anger quickly spread throughout the tribe.

The rig that was named by the people as the rocket launch base. (photography / Lin Jiyang) is the tribal council reduced to a rubber stamp for developers?

On September 2, the villagers went to the county government to lodge their complaints. County officials said that the Hongye tribe began to apply for geothermal drilling on May 18, and that the township office knew all about it from beginning to end, and that the manufacturer had issued a document to notify the office when they surveyed the site on June 15. It was learned that the office did not attend the drilling survey, and the negative actions of elected leaders and representatives of public opinion brought discontent within the tribe to a boiling point.

At the strong request of the opposition, the Red Leaf tribe held its second tribal meeting on September 5 to discuss the geothermal case, which was attended again by Besurode and contractor Chi Jiajiu. As the villagers were very indignant that the manufacturers made the decision of "tribal consent to drilling" at the last tribal meeting, they asked the manufacturers to exit on the spot, and the whole meeting became a declaration meeting against geothermal development.

Villagers one after another put up banners such as "geothermal consortium rolling out of red leaves" and "double speed Rod out of their homes" to protest the construction, and the opposition camp began to sign and assemble to set up a self-help association, and elected Peng Changfu as president to carry out self-relief. Through a series of calls and calls on October 3, the tribal people's Congress marched to demand an end to geothermal development.

White cloth strips (Photography / Lin Jiyang) protesting geothermal development are hung everywhere in Hongye Village: Hongye Village has been stagnant for too long, how long will it take to miss this?

However, in the eyes of those who support geothermal development within the tribe, the actions of the opponents are not only negative and unprogressive, but also the culprit of the stagnation of the tribe's development. After the developers have settled in, some small businesses or the catering industry can also do some small businesses, which is of great benefit to the tribal economy.

"Hongye Village has been stagnant for too long. When will we miss this one?" Wen Zhisheng, who originally opposed geothermal development but later joined a geothermal company to assist in drilling and turned to approval, said, "I was against it before, but now I have the opportunity to get into the project. After getting close to the field, I am also in favor of geothermal development."

"those people will only oppose it, oppose it all the time for opposition, and have never been able to put forward what is the vision of Hongye Village." Young people who praise Tongfang believe that most of the opponents are people who do not want to make progress in the tribe, and if they want to improve their lives, they will want the tribe to develop.

Proponents cite the vision provided by the double Speed Rhodes briefing: "the development of geothermal can build a geothermal demonstration park, bring tourism, hire people to increase job opportunities, people who run small businesses sell vegetables on the roadside, and people who do business can sell bento. People who sell betel nuts can also make a little money."