Officials cited for razing blunder

Four Taipei City Government officials were disciplined yesterday for their role in botching the partial demolition of the residence of a low-income household in the city's Chungshan district.

The officials were blamed for faulty measuring which led to all but five pings (about 17m2) of the house being demolished.

he city had originally intended to only knock-down one third of the structure in order to make way for the expansion of a road.

The officials were also cited for the insufficient demolition of two other properties which now require additional demolition work.

Lo Chun-sheng (羅俊昇), director of the maintenance office under the Bureau of Public Works, and Lin Chang-hui (林昌輝), head of a division of the office, both received one reprimand.

Another division head, Yang Chih-hsing (楊志行), received two reprimands and Hsu Jung-tsung (徐榮聰), the engineer in charge of the demolition project, received a minor demerit.

In addition, Lo said that he would step down if any members of the office were found to have taken kickbacks in connection with the project.

Meanwhile, the homeowners yesterday continued to call for compensation and the reconstruction of their homes.

The disciplinary action was taken in response to a complaint filed by Lai Wen-chang (賴文章), whose Chungshan District home, illegally constructed on Sungchiang Road, was almost completely torn down by the maintenance office on June 15.

Although the office's deputy director apologized to Lai's family on Wednesday, he failed to say whether compensation would be paid for the blunder or if the city would undertake reconstruction of the property.

Accompanied by DPP City Councilor Lo Tsung-sheng (羅宗勝) yesterday morning, Lai and the two families whose homes have been partially demolished but who are now told that they must be further deconstructed, said the city should undertake -- and pay for -- the reconstruction of their property.

"It's true that our house had been illegally constructed, but it's also true that the city made a mistake by tearing down the part that shouldn't have been demolished," Lai said.

Lai added that the city should also pay the family's rent should it have to relocate while the house is being rebuilt.

"The house is so small that we may need to move out. We don't even have any space to put our ancestral shrine," he said.

Chang Kuo-wei (張國威), whose house was not on the demolition list but who ended up losing about 5m2 of his property anyway, said that he was concerned about the safety of his home.

"I'm afraid that one of the walls might fall down someday," he said, adding that he had not received any compensation for having part of his house torn down.

Lo Chun-sheng, however, said that the city had already paid each of the 20 families illegally occupying the area sums ranging between NT$140,000 and NT$1.6 million to relocate and reconstruct.

Information provided by Lo Chun-sheng showed that Chang's family had received NT$140,000 and that the Lai family had received NT$770,000.

Lin An (林安) and Lin Tien (林田) are two of the 17 homeowners whose homes have been partially demolished for the construction of the road and now face further demolition work.

The two claimed that the office had taken kickbacks from three families whose houses were considered to be legally constructed and were reduced to rubble.