Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday said the Taipei City Government would address the needs of a family whose two homes were demolished to make way for an urban renewal project, but failed to agree with the family’s call for the reconstruction of their residences and to set up utilities at the construction site for their supporters, who continue to protest at the site.
Hau met with members of the Wang family for the first time on Tuesday after the city government demolished their homes late last month to facilitate the construction of a 15-story apartment complex near the MRT metropolitan railway system’s Jiantan Station, and said the city would try its best to address the family’s concerns.
However, Hau yesterday did not agree to the family’s requests, insisting that the city should follow regulations while helping the family.
“I understand the Wang family’s concerns clearly and after our meeting yesterday, I believe the family also understands that the city government will solve their problems as long as it’s legal,” he said during a policy presentation before the Taipei City Council.
Hau made the comments after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chang Mao-nan (張茂楠) organized a call-in with Wang Kuang-shu (王廣樹), a member of the Wang family, during the question-and-answer session, in which Wang reiterated his concerns about the reconstruction of the family’s homes and the issue of electricity.
“We have made our demands very clear. In addition to giving our homes back by rebuilding them on the site, we hope that the city government can set up electricity and water on the construction site, so that the students who remain there to protest can access water and electricity,” he said.
Taipei City’s Urban Redevelopment Office said it would be difficult to connect electricity and water to the site, as the homes had been torn down, and added that it would be the responsibility of the construction firm to apply for the utilities.
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