The Taipei City Government yesterday said it was pushing through with an urban renewal project despite repeated protests from a family who has refused to moved.
The Wang family’s two apartments in Shilin District (士林) are scheduled for demolition, as their location forms part of an urban renewal project called Wenlin Yuan (文林苑), with construction company Le Young building a 15-story apartment complex in the area.
Several Wang family members staged a protest again yesterday in front of Taipei City Hall, accusing the city government of ignoring their rights to profit the construction company.
“Our family homes are our family treasures, and we expect our children to continue living in these homes,” Wang Yao-teh (王耀德) said.
“We never agreed to the urban renewal project and we need to defend our rights,” he said.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the construction company had received the consent of more than 95 percent of the landowners on the block, and the city government would proceed with the project in the interests of the majority of the landowners.
“Only 5 percent of the landowners are against the project. We cannot sacrifice the rights of the majority of the landowners in this case,” he said.
Taipei City Urban Redevelopment Office director Lin Chong-jie (林崇傑) said the Wang family had agreed with the project before it was approved by the city government, but changed their mind later on and demanded more subsidies.
The city government will have to help the urban renewal project move forward in accordance with the Urban Renewal Act (都市更新條例) and help the firm take action, city officials said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
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