A crowd of people affected by government land seizures yesterday braved the forefront of Typhoon Nanmadol to rally outside the Executive Yuan and protest the “pre-auction” measure used in development projects, calling for negotiations with landowners.
“President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) talked about justice in housing and justice in land use, but we don’t feel he’s been sincere, because our problems have not been solved and everything continues as before,” MRT A7 Station Development Project Self-Help Group chairwoman Hsu Yu-hung (徐玉紅) said.
“We demand that the government stop the expropriation project and stop the ‘pre-auction,’ which has no legal basis,” Hsu said.
The “MRT A7 Station Development Project” refers to plans to create an industrial zone, a commercial zone, regular housing complexes and “suitable housing” complexes near the station, now temporarily named “A7,” along an express railroad connecting central Taipei and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Although the Ministry of the Interior, which initiated the project, said the project was to build “suitable housing complexes” to be sold at lower prices as a measure to cool down the skyrocketing real- estate market, affected residents believe the government is only trying to help land developers. This was because of the 186 hectares of land to be expropriated, only 9.7 hectares would be used to build “suitable housing,” while 43.52 hectares would be turned into an industrial zone and the rest would become regular housing or commercial zones.
Residents are also upset that, before the expropriation process has been completed, the government is already inviting bids.
“We still live here, we still have land ownership certificates in our hands, how could the government put our land on ‘pre-auction?’” Hsu asked. “The government says land ownership would not be transferred to a new owner until the expropriation process is completed. Well, this is like putting a knife to our throats and telling us: ‘Don’t worry, we won’t kill you right away.’”
Liao Pen-chuan (廖本全), an as-sociate professor in National Taipei University’s department of real estate and built environment, who attended the protest to show his support for the protesters’ demands, agreed with Shih.
“I want to ask the government three questions: First, there are already too many development projects, has the government done an evaluation on the public interests and necessity of the A7 development project? Second, what is the legal basis of ‘pre-auction’ and, third, who made the decision to put private land on ‘pre-auction?’” he asked.
“If the president cannot realize justice in housing and justice in land use for these people protesting here, he should just shut up,” Liao added.
After handing a petition to an official surnamed Lin of the ministry’s Department of Land Administration in front of the Executive Yuan, the protesters handed in a petition letter at the Presidential Office.
There was some minor verbal clashes and some pushing and shoving when the Executive Yuan initially sent a security officer to receive the petition.
Asked to comment on the “pre-auction,” Department of Land Administration Director Hsiao Fu-tao (蕭輔導) said that the measure had no basis in law, but defended it as a move to speed up the development project “since it would take too long if we do everything step-by-step.”
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
RSS