A proposal tabled by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor William Hsu (徐弘庭) that the Taipei City Government should not be allowed to propose public housing projects before gaining the consent of a majority of residents yesterday gained support from an overwhelming majority of the council.
Under the proposal, the city government is to head a resolution passed this month by the council by holding at least two public hearings and gaining the approval of at least half the residents living within 500m of a proposed site.
The proposal collected signatures from 49 Taipei city councilors out of a total of 61.
At a news conference attended by KMT Taipei City Councilors Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) and Carolyn Chieh (闕枚莎), Hsu spoke about a feud between him and Taipei Department of Urban Development Commissioner Lin Jou-min (林洲民) on Facebook over whether the planned MRT southern ring line had been included in a transit-oriented development analysis concerning planned public housing complexes in Wenshan District (文山), saying Lin did not have a full grasp of the department’s policies.
Wang cited the public opposition initially faced by former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) when Songshan District’s (松山) Baoqing public housing complex was proposed, saying that Hau conducted two polls on the complex and carried out continuous dialogue with local residents before finally gaining their approval.
“Hau conducted two polls, so why does Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) not use the ‘i-Voting’ online polling platform? Is that not what he is most proud of?” she said.
Referencing recent protests in the wake of what she called an “insane” housing project on the site of the Guangtzu Poai Home, Wang said Lin had turned a deaf ear to the public’s demands.
Ko’s administration has said it would double the 1,400 public housing units planned for the site.
Daren (大仁) borough warden Tsai Kuei-ching (蔡桂清) and local residents expressed concern about the sharp increase in tenants degrading their quality of life.
Tsai said he would launch a boycott comprising 10,000 residents against the city government’s plan.
In related news, Lin yesterday responded to an incident on Wednesday night at a hearing on a public housing complex planned on the site of a former military base in Wanhua District (萬華), where he was confronted by a protester who covered the hearing’s venue with ghost money.
“Clearly, we need to criticize ourselves for not giving people a good orientation on a good product. We will make improvements and give a clearer explanation,” he said.
Li said that while potential traffic problems surrounding public housing should be approached with caution, that does not mean public housing should only be built after all traffic problems are solved, adding: “No city in the world builds its public housing in this manner.”
Hsu said Lin’s remarks were beyond comprehension, because Wenshan is a district with heavy traffic.
“It is regrettable that he should say that,” Hsu said.
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