A group of residents from New Taipei City (新北市) who face imminent eviction lodged a complaint yesterday with the Control Yuan against the municipal government, demanding an investigation into possible illegal profiteering concerning an urban renewal plan.
“We were not informed until April that our houses would be demolished in December,” said Chen Wei (陳瑋), a resident of Erchong Borough (二重里) in Sanchong District (三重).
Chen said they knew nothing of the municipality’s Tamsui River (淡水河) “Manhattan Riverside” project, which would include tearing down the buildings on Tayu and Chinhua streets for a road expansion.
Photo: CNA
The residents said they accidentally learned of the plan, while surfing the Internet.
The plan includes an injection of NT$5 million (US$174,000) over five years for river management and refurbishment projects in residential areas located within 1km on both sides of the river
The idea was originally proposed by former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) and is supported by Chou’s predecessor, New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), as well as Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌).
The Taipei City Government is scheduled to hold a public hearing in the middle of this month to explain to residents the nature of the project, which will commence in December.
Two hearings were held — on Dec. 15, 2007, and Aug. 12, 2009 — while Chou was in office, but Chen said most of the residents were kept in the dark.
According to Article 19 of the Urban Planning Act (都市計畫法), government agencies are required to notify residents of an urban renewal project by publishing information about hearings in newspapers before the plans are approved by review commissions.
“The information about the hearings held in 2007 and 2009 were posted online and published in the China Daily News, a local newspaper mainly published in Greater Tainan. How could the government expect we would read that newspaper in Taipei?” Chen said.
An 84-year-old resident surnamed Pan (潘), who has lived in the borough for 45 years, said he did not understand how the government had the right to deprive him of his property without his consent.
“My house was legally built. I have the licenses,” he said.
“There is no need to expand the roads because we don’t haven any problems with traffic jams,” resident Chen Kuang-hui (陳光輝) said, demanding that the Control Yuan look into who will be profiting from the renewal plan.
“For 40 years the area we live in was designated as a ‘no construction district’ because it is on a flood plain,” Chen said. “If that is the case, why is the government now launching a large-scale renewal project?”
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all