Dozens of Tainan residents whose houses are facing forced expropriation to make room for a railroad project demonstrated outside Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters in Taipei yesterday, asking to see DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), while demanding that the project be halted.
Holding banners and placards to express their anger, the protesters accused Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德), a DPP member, of violating their human rights, and asked Tsai to clarify her stance on the issue and help them stop the project.
“Most of us who live along the railroad have supported the pro-democracy movement for decades and regard the DPP as a symbol of Taiwanese democracy,” said Chen Chih-hsiao (陳致曉), spokesman for the residents’ self-help organization.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“We never thought we would be excluded from Taiwan’s progress in democratization. It is only now that we have seen the real face of Lai,” Chen said.
Chen said that since the city government has approved the project and referred it to the Ministry of the Interior for further review, “Tsai may soon have the power to make the final decision as she might win the presidency next year, and therefore we are here to ask her to look into the controversy.”
The project refers to a plan to move part of the railroad line underground to facilitate traffic and development in the city.
The original plan was to use a strip of land on the east side of the railroad to build temporary tracks while the project is ongoing, and return the land to the owners after it is completed.
However, the final plan passed by the Tainan City Government calls for the permanent expropriation of this tract of land, triggering strong opposition from about 400 households who would be affected.
The residents are especially u pset because, according to the city government’s plan, they would be relocated to housing complexes in a newly developed area outside the city, and have to purchase their own housing units.
Despite the protesters’ demands, Tsai did not show up.
The demonstration ended peacefully.
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