Disappointed Losheng Sanatorium residents and preservationists promised to appeal yesterday after the Taiwan High Administrative Court dismissed a lawsuit against various government bodies filed in April.
The Sanatorium in Taipei County sanatorium was completed in 1930 during the Japanese colonial rule and was used to isolate thousands of people with Hansen's disease -- more commonly known as leprosy.
A plan to tear down most of the buildings on the sanatorium's grounds for the construction of a Mass Rapid Transportation (MRT) maintenance depot was met with strong opposition.
Preservationists claim that forcing Losheng residents to move after decades of forced isolation is a serious violation of their human rights.
Preservationists also contend that the sanatorium bears important witness to Taiwan's public health history.
Geologists including Wang Wei-min (
To highlight their concerns, preservationists and Losheng residents filed an administrative lawsuit in April against the Department of Health, Taipei City Department of Rapid Transit Systems and the sanatorium administration.
"The original site selected for the maintenance depot is around Fujen Catholic University, but was later changed to the Losheng site because there was a change in the urban development plan," Losheng Lepers' Self-Help Organization chairman Lee Tien-pei (李添培) told the Taipei Times in a telephone interview.
"Because of the change, the construction budget increased from NT$1.5 billion [US$46 million] to NT$4 billion -- we wanted to know whether any illegality was involved," Lee said.
Preservationists say that the defendants were engaged in administrative misconduct for starting construction before the review of Losheng's historic value and the legislative process of the Hansen's Disease Human Rights Act were completed.
The court, however, still dismissed the case.
The court ruled that the residents are not allowed to be the litigants in the case, as they do not have rights over the sanatorium, a CNA report said.
Meanwhile, the court said Losheng residents' request to halt the construction was not legally feasible since the National Compensation Act stipulates that compensation may be redeemed in the form of monetary measures or restoration of the building to its original state, the report said.
After hearing the verdict, Losheng residents and preservationists said they would appeal.
"We asked the court to investigate whether any illegality was involved in the change of site, and we asked the judge to come visit the sanatorium in person -- they did neither," Lee said. "We will appeal."
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