Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) yesterday apologized for the quality of construction at the Fujhou (浮洲) Affordable Housing complex in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋).
The project — designed to provide affordable homes for low-income families — has been enveloped in controversy since numerous cracks appeared in the buildings after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake last month.
Chen said that he was unsatisfied with the project’s outcome and felt “full of regret and apologetic” about the safety concerns.
He said that more safety inspections would be carried out before buyers are to begin moving in next month.
Referring to possible legal battles between homeowners and construction contractor Radium Life Tech, Chen said the ministry would consider offering financial support for homebuyers through a government housing fund.
He promised that the ministry would make its decision within the week, after a thorough evaluation.
From a total of 4,009 housing units sold, 1,364 homeowners have filed complaints about the quality of their apartments and more than 150 have said they want to cancel their purchases, Chen said.
However, just 17 tenants have finalized their decision to withdraw from the housing project — mainly due to financial problems, rather than concerns over the quality of construction, he said.
Chen’s remarks were made during a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee in Taipei, where he faced heavy criticism from opposition legislators.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) questioned pending plans for the Youth Housing project — a similar public housing initiative that intends to put more than 20,000 units of affordable public housing on the market for people aged below 40.
“Why should a new administration be forced to continue bad policies?” Chuang asked.
Critics have lashed out at the Fujhou Affordable Housing and Youth Housing initiatives over their status as for-sale housing, saying that the government should provide more for-rent public housing to curb skyrocketing housing prices.
Separately, the Construction and Planning Agency said that an ongoing evaluation on the safety of the Fujhou project would be completed by today, adding that immediate action should be taken to mend cracks and water seepage in the buildings.
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