A coalition of housing rights advocates yesterday rallied in front of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters to call for hearings on controversial development and expropriation cases nationwide.
Dozens of advocates and people affected by land expropriation parodied a religious ceremony and burned paper offerings to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Premier William Lai (賴清德), Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who they said were “ghost kings and queens” responsible for inappropriate seizure of properties and the victimization of residents.
They called for administrative hearings to be held for a planned underground railroad line in Tainan, the Taoyuan Aerotropolis project, the relocation of residents in a former military dependents’ village at Daguan (大觀) community in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋) and rezoning in the Wenzaizun (塭仔圳) area in the city’s Sinjhuang District (新莊).
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Chen Chih-hsiao (陳致曉), spokesman for a self-help association of Tainan residents affected by land expropriation for the railroad project, said that Lai had flip-flopped on the project, as he originally opposed it as a lawmaker, but sought to enforce the project when he became mayor.
Following the controversial approval of the railroad project in August last year, the Ministry of the Interior announced a set of regulations as the legal foundation for a hearing, but the government has rejected their requests, Chen Chih-hsiao said.
“The hearing regulations were announced to gloss over the government’s shameless hypocrisy,” he said.
Lai in his new capacity as premier could withdraw the project or hold an administrative hearing on its legitimacy, but has done neither, he said.
Daguan resident Tang Chia-mei (湯家梅) said they are facing forced eviction, as the Veterans Affairs Council plans to demolish the community that was built on land owned by the council.
The community was part of a military dependents’ village, which was destroyed during a typhoon in 1963. The village relocated, but locals rebuilt the community without council approval. The government had acquiesced until recently.
The Taoyuan Aerotropolis project plans to expropriate more than 3,000 hectares of land, but just about 1,000 hectares is sufficient for the airport facilities, local resident Tsai Mei-fang (蔡梅芬) said, demanding the government downsize the project to prevent mass seizure and forced relocation.
A UN analysis of Taiwan’s enforcement of the human rights covenants this year showed that housing rights are the most pressing such issue in the nation, National Chengchi University professor Hsu Shih-jung (徐世榮) said.
Only 0.08 percent of Taiwanese live in social housing, but the same figure in other East Asian nations averages out to 5 percent, Hsu said.
“President and [DPP] chairperson Tsai Ing-wen has promised that the government would take the UN analysis as the floor of the nation’s protection of human rights instead of the ceiling. I hope Tsai will honor her promise and revise the law,” Hsu said.
The DPP said it respects the protesters’ opinions.
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