Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was yesterday morning confronted by members of environmental groups and residents asking him to deal with a controversial land development case as he arrived for a meeting in Taipei’s Shilin District (士林).
The group held up a poster with pictures of former Taipei mayors Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), as well as Ko, with sarcastic text that read: “The lands in Taipei can be easily dug up” and asking: “Is the city government going to legalize existing illegal development projects?”
Green Consumers’ Foundation chairman Jay Fang (方儉) said city government officials who neglected their duties when dealing with a construction project in a 53.82 hectare hillside urban redevelopment zone near the district’s Jingshan Road should be punished.
The zone was originally a hillside protection zone that was rezoned as residential in 1979. A development project in the zone had gained conditional approval after an environmental impact assessment in 1996, but several illegal construction projects were found in the area a few years later.
Tsaoshan Ecology, Culture and History Alliance president Wen Hai-chen (文海珍) said she hoped that Ko would withdraw the development’s permit and investigate the case to punish the officials involved.
Ko listened and accepted their petition, but remained silent and walked into his meeting.
Separately yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) criticized the city government’s delay in building a 90.24 hectare technology park in the Beitou (北投) and Shilin districts, which was planned during Hau’s tenure as mayor.
The park was originally planned to be ready for companies to move in last year, he said.
“The land planned for the park, of which every inch is worth gold, to grow plants and flowers and to hold a Guandu flower festival, is a big waste,” Ting said, adding that Ko delayed the project and has been unable to attract investment for it.
The Taipei Department of Land Administration’s Land Development Agency said the project was divided into two phases, with housing units to be built before residents were forced to move, but it was suspended after the company in charge of building the housing units halted operations.
In related news, Taipei Department of Urban Development Commissioner Lin Jou-min (林洲民) on Tuesday said the city government has met with Taipei Dome contractor Farglory Group (遠雄集團), the Taiwan Architecture and Building Center and the Taiwan Architects Association to discuss progress on construction of the Dome, which has been delayed for three years.
According to building regulations, concert stages and auditoriums cannot be more than 7m underground, but the Dome’s planned auditorium is 10.5m below ground, so it might not be able to host concerts, the urban development department said.
additional reporting by Shen Pei-yao and Hsiao Ting-fang
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
RSS