Dozens of activists clashed with police in front of Taipei City Hall yesterday as they protested against the construction of a mass rapid transit (MRT) depot, which they said had caused cracks to form at the Losheng Sanatorium’s residential buildings.
Wearing yellow headbands that read “Losheng” and shouting “step down, mayor” and “come out and speak, mayor,” the demonstrators — including students, Losheng residents and activists from the Losheng Youth Alliance — pushed and shoved against police guarding the area. Several protesters fell to the ground and suffered minor injuries.
The protesters said that cracks had appeared and spread since May in 32 sanatorium buildings preserved for current residents, who included members from the alliance. The cracks are proof that the site was too fragile and not suitable for building the MRT Sinjhuang Line’s maintenance depot, they said.
Photo: CNA
The demonstrators accused the city government of lying and demanded that Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) provide a full explanation. They said the city had promised to halt construction of the MRT line until it had completed an investigation report and geological experts had assessed that the area was safe for construction.
However, the construction has gone on, which shows that the government does not care for the safety and well-being of Losheng’s residents, the protesters said.
Controversy surrounding the preservation of the sanatorium, a historical site built in the 1930s to house people with Hansen’s Disease, surfaced when the Taipei City’s Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS) presented plans to tear down the buildings to make way for the depot in 2003.
Yielding to continuous protests from residents and activists, the Executive Yuan’s Public Construction Commission in 2007 agreed to preserve 39 buildings and rebuild 10 elsewhere after construction of the depot was completed.
After cracks appeared in the walls and floor of the buildings, the DORTS suspended construction on Aug. 13 to inspect the condition of the buildings and planned to evacuate residents to a temporary location amid safety concerns.
MRT North District Project Office director Wu Pei-jeen (吳沛軫) told the protesters that the MRT office had conducted at least four geological surveys since 1992, and that a report aimed at investigating the cracks that started to appear in May was in process and would not be finished until April next year.
Wu said that although cracks had indeed appeared in the buildings, the MRT office would find ways to ensure that construction at the site was safe and would repair the buildings.
Additional reporting by CNA
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