The New Taipei City Government on Monday fined a property developer NT$90,000 after it tore down a private house in Sanchong District (三重) on Sunday without the owner’s permission.
The city government said it would not allow the company to start work on a development project in the area before public safety could be ensured and did not rule out revoking the developer’s business license if the deadline for starting work expires.
The city also said that it would reject property projects submitted by the company for review and would consider putting the company on a blacklist, which would prohibit it from bidding on city government urban renewal projects.
Photo: Yu Cheng-lin, Taipei Times
The company launched a 150 ping (495.87m2) renovation project where 13 residential units stood, with the owners of 11 units agreeing to the renovation, while the other two rejected the plan as they were dissatisfied with the level of compensation offered for demolishing their buildings.
One of the two was the owner of the demolished building, surnamed Lin (林).
Lin said he was alerted by a telephone call from one of his neighbors that his home of 40 years had been torn down in a surprise raid by the construction company while he was out for lunch with his family.
Lin’s three-story house occupied an area of about 7 ping, with the first story made from concrete blocks and the second and third stories built from sheet metal.
Lin said that his father bought the building about 60 years ago after moving to the city from the south.
Lin, his wife and their three children lived in the building, he said.
“We only have ownership rights of the building, not the land,” Lin said.
However, the loss cannot possibly be estimated, he said, because there are many things that money cannot buy.
Lin said that he now has no choice but to accept the shelter arrangements provided by the city government.
According to the city government, as Lin did not register the house, it was an illegal structure.
However, the government said that while the development company applied for a construction license, it did not apply for a permit to start construction.
Only the government has the authority to enforce the demolition of illegal buildings, the city government said, adding that it fined the company for illegally tearing down the building and ordered it to stop the demolition work in accordance with the Building Act (建築法).
A lawyer said that according to the Criminal Code, the developer could face up to five years in jail for destroying, damaging, or rendering useless an object belonging to another person.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS