The Taipei City District Court yesterday ruled the Taipei City Government must pay approximately NT$480 million to the former residents of the Tunghsing Building (東星大樓) in compensation for losses caused by the 921 earthquake.
The prosecutor said city officials' negligence regarding the building's construction had contributed in part to the deaths of 87 people in the building during the earthquake.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-TEH, TAIPEI TIMES
"The judge [Chen Po-wen (陳博文)] has ruled against the Taipei City Government in the lawsuit and has demanded it pay NT$3 million in compensation for each life lost and NT$300,000 for every casualty that resulted from the collapse of the building," said Liu Shou-sung (劉壽嵩), Taipei District Court spokesman.
"In addition, the court has also ruled that each former Tunghsing resident can claim up to NT$340,000 for financial or property loses brought about by the quake," Liu said.
The ill-fated 12-story complex was the site of the capital's greatest devastation during the earthquake which struck the nation on Sept. 21, 1999.
Situated on Pateh Road, the building collapsed in seconds when the quake hit. As a result, 87 Tunghsing residents were killed, 105 were injured and more than 250 were left homeless.
According to Liu, the city's Bureau of Public Works was found guilty of issuing an operation license for the building despite the building's substandard construction.
"The bureau was at fault in failing to detect problematic constructional flaws yet went on and issued [the building] its operation license," Liu said.
"In the end, the prosecutor has ruled that ... Taipei City officials were liable and responsible for the deaths and injuries in the building during the 921 earthquake," he said.
Upon hearing the court decision yesterday, former Tunghsing residents, who believed the collapse of the building was due to the poor standard of construction, and had originally demanded NT$1.5 billion in compensation from the Taipei City Government, said they were satisfied with the court's ruling.
"We have been through much hardship [because of the 921 earthquake]," said Tiffany Lee (李舜涵), representative of the Tunghsing Building Self-help Association (東星大樓自救委員會). "And we feel that our efforts have paid off now that the court has ruled in our favor."
Lee, who lost her mother during the earthquake, stressed that it was not out of hatred that the former Tunghsing residents filed the lawsuit against the Taipei City Government.
"We did so because we want to establish the worth of the lives of those who were killed and injured," she said.
In response to the court's ruling, Taipei City Deputy Mayor Ou Chin-der (歐晉德) yesterday said the city government would respect the court's decision.
"We have yet to view the verdict," Ou said yesterday at a press conference, which was held for the city government to make its response concerning the ruling. "So we have yet to decide on whether to appeal or not."
Ou added that the court's decision would not affect the city government's attitude and effort toward the current on-going reconstruction process of the Tunghsing Building.
"Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) places high importance on the rebuilding of the Tunghsing Building," Ou said.
"Our care and effort over the [Tunghsing Building's] rebuilding will not be affected by any lawsuits," he said.
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