The Ministry of the Interior has failed to follow through on promises to hold hearings on controversial expropriation projects, housing rights advocates said yesterday, demanding that the ministry call a hearing to force the Taoyuan City Government to clarify a road expansion project.
A handful of protesters gathered outside the ministry in Taipei, with residents affected by the expansion of Lungkang Road in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢) performing a skit in which hundreds of coins were poured into bottles, to represent the work, which they called “wasteful” and a “violation of human rights.”
“The ministry passed guidelines last year, but there has been no effort to pass them,” said Tien Chi-feng (田奇峰), a consultant for a residents’ self-help association, adding that the situation exemplified concerns about the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program.
“In this case, the size of the expansion is unnecessary, but it keeps getting reviewed and approved by the minister of the interior, demonstrating just how hard it is to cancel such projects once they get rolling,” he said.
The road expansion, in its second phase, was initiated as part of former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) 12 “i-Taiwan" infrastructure programs and is expected to cost about NT$700 million (US$23.05 million), compared with about NT$800 million in the Forward-looking program to construct a light-rail system between Taipei and Keelung.
Controversy has centered around the expansion project’s efficacy, with Tien saying that plans to expand the road’s width to 30m would turn it into a “large parking lot” because of a bottleneck on an unexpanded section near Jhongli Railway Station.
“The government has not provided a reasonable explanation, nor many of their statistics,” said association member Lee Tzu-chiang (李自強), a resident affected by the expansion’s second phase.
Data provided by the Taoyuan City Government at meetings of the ministry’s land expropriation subcommittee were different from those provided earlier at local public hearings, Lee said.
Chuang Yu-cheng (莊玉城), a resident who would be affected by a planned third phase of the expansion, said that residents could accept an expansion to 24m, which would spare most homes if street parking in government plans were to be eliminated.
Department of Land Administration Deputy Director Wang Cheng-chi (王成機) said that the ministry’s expropriation general committee would decide whether hearings are to be held, if the case is passed by the subcommittee.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese