Exactly 10 years after part of the Lincoln Mansions (林肯大郡) complex was destroyed during a typhoon, the community still sits in ruins with promises of help remaining unfulfilled.
It was 10 years ago today that heavy rain brought by Typhoon Winnie caused the retaining wall of the Lincoln Mansions complex in Sijhih (汐止), Taipei County, to collapse.
Twenty-eight residents were killed in the incident, as the collapsed wall released a torrent of mud and rocks that flattened their apartments and forced another 500 families to abandon their destroyed homes.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The survivors were just too scared to live in the complex after learning that it had been built on land at risk of subsidence.
"Time stopped at the moment of the tragedy 10 years ago at Lincoln Mansions," Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Joanna Lei (雷倩) told a press conference at the Legislative Yuan yesterday.
A black-and-white picture taken last month by former resident Chou Chi-chuan (周志全) shows a giant piece of rock filling the window of an apartment, with mud spread all over the floor.
In another picture, an inclined building stands on ground that has cracked open.
"These pictures were taken last month, not 10 years ago, but there's not much change," Chou said.
"The people who should have been held responsible for the tragedy are still free as birds, and the promises of help were never fulfilled," Chou said.
"The owner of the construction company, Li Chung-hsien (李宗賢), has yet to be sanctioned," said a former resident surnamed Lai who lost his wife in the accident.
Li, who obtained the construction permit illegally, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the first round of the case, Lai said.
However, the sentence was later changed to four years and "the case is still in appeal today," Lai said.
Li also reached a separate settlement out of court with residents in which he promised to "take care of mortgage issues for us, but never did," Lai said.
In addition, promises made by Democratic Progressive Party vice-presidential candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) when he was Taipei County commissioner and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) when he was running for the presidency in 1999 to "handle the issue as a special case" were never fulfilled, Chou said.
In the news conference, former residents asked the government to preserve the ruins of the community as an example of inappropriate development.
In addition, they also demanded that the government release a piece of land for them to reconstruct their community, and that the government set up standard operating procedures for similar disasters in the future.
Teng Min-chi (鄧民治), executive secretary of the county administration said the county would help the residents but did not offer any concrete promises.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS