A new deadline for the eviction of residents at Lo Sheng (Happy Life) Sanatorium, a leprosarium in Taipei County, sparked physical clashes between police officers and protesters yesterday.
The Taipei County Government has decided to give residents at the sanatorium until April 16 to move out.
Physical clashes broke out when protesters attempted to prevent the police from posting a notice announcing the new deadline yesterday.
PHOTO: LIN CHIH-CHING, TAIPEI TIMES
Three protesters were arrested.
The Lo Sheng Sanatorium was built in 1929 to house leprosy patients. Leprosy was at the time believed to be easily contagious and incurable, and patients were therefore quarantined for life.
Free movement for sufferers of leprosy has only been allowed since the 1950s.
In order to build a maintenance facility for the MRT system, government authorities have decided to move residents at the sanatorium to a newly built home nearby and demolish most of the buildings at Lo S?heng.
The decision has met with opposition from some Lo Sheng residents, leprosy rights activists and preservationists.
"Save Lo Sheng. It's not just about saving historic buildings ... it's also about respecting the basic human rights of a group of disadvantaged people," the Youth Alliance for Lo Sheng said in a press release.
Tuesday was the original deadline for eviction.
But after demonstrations in front of Premier Su Tseng-chang's (
Around 40 protesters, including human-rights activists, students, residents of Lo Sheng and their families, blocked the main gate as hundreds of police officers approached the facility this morning, said Lai Che-chun (
IDEA is an international organization protecting the rights of leprosy sufferers.
"The police couldn't get in through the main gate, so they sneaked through a back gate to post the mandatory eviction notice on the bulletin board," Lai said.
"They're like thieves! Only thieves go through backdoors!" A Lo Sheng resident cried.
Another clash broke out as protesters tore down the posted notice.
"We tore down the notice and when the police saw that, the SWAT team moved in and arrested people," said Soda Masoto, a Japanese student pursuing his doctorate in Taiwan.
Three protesters were arrested and one passed out during the clash, Lai said
Meanwhile, a group of leprosy patients yesterday presented a petition to the Legislative Yuan calling on lawmakers to speed up the passage of a statute providing for their needs.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Kuo Su-chun (
"Premier Su says the statute is stalled in the legislature. We want legislators to pass it as soon as possible," said Chan Ming-chou (
The self-help group, organized with the goal of preserving Lo Sheng Sanatorium, demanded that legislators make preserving the leprosarium one of the articles of the statute.
The current version of the statue only discusses compensation for the patients.
Legislators are divided over the statute, which aims at detailing measures that must be taken to compensate for the suffering of leprosy patients.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
RSS