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Licenses for gas stations at museum to be revoked

The Taipei City Government will revoke construction licenses for two gas stations that were to be built just 430m from the National Palace Museum, officials said yesterday.

The construction of the two gas stations on Zhishan Road has been mired in controversy, with the museum and local residents saying that the stations' proximity to the museum would jeopardize the safety of valuable museum artifacts.

Earlier this year, New Party Taipei City Councilor Pan Hwai-tzong (潘懷宗) accused former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) of having collaborated with Chao Heng Corporation in obtaining the construction licenses.

Pan said that Lin had helped the company to convene public hearings on the construction and facilitated negotiations with the museum, city government and National Property Bureau, which owned part of the land, to obtain the licenses.

Hsu Chih-chien (許志堅), commissioner of Taipei City's Urban Development Department, said yesterday that although the city government had issued the licenses to the company in 2004, it decided to revoke them after a thorough reevaluation of the impact the gas stations would have on the museum.

The licenses will be revoked within the next 10 days, Hsu said.

"We agreed that the gas stations may pose a threat to the preservation of valuable items displayed in the museum, and will revoke the construction license in 10 days," he said yesterday at a municipal meeting at Taipei City Hall.

Deputy Mayor Lin Chun-yi (林崇一) urged Hsu to revoke the licenses as soon as possible, saying the city government would discuss compensation with the company.
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