Wed, Feb 23, 2005 page2

• Wrangling on targeted leprosarium continues

  DEBATE The Taipei County government says that demolishing a historic hospital may be unavoidable. But critics charge that the plan would trample on human rights and history

  • By Mo Yan-chih / STAFF REPORTER
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  Taipei County Government Cultural Affairs Bureau chief Lin Po-yu (林柏佑) yesterday said that the demolition of Leseng ("Happy Life") Hospital may be unavoidable if the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)'s project is to stay on schedule and on budget.

  "We acknowledged the importance of Leseng Hospital for its cultural and historical value. However, the cost of delaying or changing the MRT project would be too high," Lin said.

  The bureaus and the MRT held a meeting yesterday to discuss the demolition plans of the 70-year-old hospital, a move which drew serious criticism from advocates of preserving the hospital.

  "[The national] Council for Cultural Affairs [CCA] promised to review the historical value of the hospital," said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬). "Both the bureau and MRT, however, ignored CCA's efforts and hospital patients' human rights with closed-door discussions on destroying the sanatorium."

  In response, Lin Po-yu said that the bureau has been studying alternative plans that would allow the MRT line and the hospital to co-exist.

  "But we have no solutions so far, and the government can not risk delaying the MRT project," he added.

  Hospital preservation advocates denounced the bureau for what is says is its planned destruction of a historical site and violation of human rights. They called on the the bureau and the MRT to abide the newly revised Cultural Heritage Preservation Law (文化資產保存法).

  "Under the law, a potential historical site that has been under review can not be destroyed during that period. We ask the bureau and MRT not to go against the law," said Lai Tse-chun (賴澤君) of the Youth Leseng League, a student group which supports the preservation of the hospital.

  If their efforts are unsuccessful, the scheduled construction of MRT's Sinjhuang Line will force the demolition of the sanatorium and require patients to move to a new hospital.

  In an effort to preserve the hospital and protect the human rights of more than 300 patients, CCA reportedly promised last month to abide by the law and preserve the hospital as a historical site.

  CCA Vice Chairman Wu Chin-fa (吳錦發) reportedly said that the council will act as an arbiter among the different government agencies to seek a solution for both sides, and try to list the hospital as a historical site as soon as possible.

  But after the CCA decided to review the hospital, the Executive Yuan authorized the bureau and MRT on Jan. 31 to decide the fate of the hospital, according to Lin Shu-fen.

  Chen Zai-tian (陳再添), who has lived at the hospital for 53 years, said that he is sick of being kicked around.

  "I was forced to live in the hospital at the age of 16," he said. "More than 50 years later and under a different government, I am still treated as a second-class citizen who can't even decide where I want to live."

  Echoing Chen's opinion, another patient, Tang hsiang-ming (湯祥明), said that the government never talked to them about the demolition plans.

  "Leprosy has been proven to be a non-infectious disease, but we never received an apology from the government for keeping us in the hospital," Tang said. "Instead, they want to kick us out from one prison to another one."

  Lin said that the bureau will provide a comfortable living environment for patients in a new hospital if Leseng Hospital is demolished. In addition, all historical documents will be well-preserved.

  But that is not likely to satisfy critics of the move.

  "The government always put its interests above human rights and historical value," Chen said. "Once the hospital is destroyed, both its beauty and its patients will be hurt, and they will never fully recover."
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