Displaying pictures of decaying nuclear waste barrels and a girl with a brain tumor, Tao Aborigines from Lanyu (also known as Orchid Island) yesterday accused the government and Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) of trying to annihilate the tribe by storing nuclear waste on the island for three decades.
“I cry everytime I tell the story of this five-year-old girl because I’m also a mother, and I believe every mother would feel heartbroken when she sees this picture and hears the story,” Sinan Mavivo, an anti-nuclear activist and resident of Lanyu, told a news conference in Taipei, while showing a picture of a five-year-old girl whose head was wrapped in gauze.
“When I first saw her, I thought she was wearing a mask, but no, it was gauze. She has to wear it because she has to undergo several treatments for brain tumor, and since she’s so little, the procedure has to be done through her mouth,” Sinan Mavivo said.