It seems that everywhere you look these days, Taipei's sidewalks are being torn apart and put back together again.
The Taipei City Government says it hopes the flurry of construction is complete before Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) term ends in December 2002. After almost three years of haggling over the design and materials to be used for the project, the city says it's now kicking into high gear.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"We cannot afford to delay the project any longer," said Hsia Pai-yun (
Ma was elected in 1998 and promised to overhaul the city's sidewalks during his term.
To get the job done, the city has allocated NT$1.5 billion from this year's budget to the project and has an additional NT$800 million from the previous year.
Taipei's total area of sidewalk space amounts to 2.5 million m2. An evaluation conducted by the city's public works bureau in July 1999 concluded that about 50 percent of that needed overhauling.
The city had planned to begin the project in 1999 with the goal of completing 620,000m2 by 2000, with another 220,000m2 to be finished this year. The remaining sidewalks were to be done next year.
However, as of last year, only 380,000m2 of sidewalk had been finished, which leaves nearly 1 million m2 of sidewalk for the city to finish in little more than a year.
While the dust and confusion created by the construction is making life difficult for pedestrians and slowing traffic areas, some Taipei residents said it's time the city's streets had a makeover.
"The inconvenience is [only]temporary but think how beautiful the sidewalks are going to be when the project is done," said Yeh Yi-hua (葉一葦), an 85-year-old resident who lives on Sanmin Road in Sungshan District.
Huang Chu-chen (
"I didn't really like the old sidewalk bricks they used because they were so thin that it was easy for them to break," she said. "And it happened so often that when you stepped on them, the filthy water stuck underneath would splash up and get your feet or legs dirty."
Another city resident who lives on Hsinyi Road in Hsinyi District, who preferred to be identified only by his surname Lee, said the billion dollar price tag for the overhaul is a bit much. "It'd be a better idea to use the money for relief funds to help other cities and counties or disaster areas," said Lee, who moved to Taipei from Changhua County some 30 years ago.
"I know very well what it's like to be poor because I'm the son of a poor farmer. Taipei is simply too affluent to understand what a difference a small amount of money can make for individuals who are deprived."
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