The government should offer consultations and incentives for tenants in unsafe apartment buildings to set up management committees, rather than making it mandatory, housing rights advocates said on Thursday.
The Executive Yuan on Feb. 24 approved proposed amendments to the Condominium Administration Act (公寓大廈管理條例) that would require the tenants of more than 10,000 buildings to establish management committees by a deadline.
The changes were prompted by a fire at a 13-story building in Kaohsiung in October last year that killed 46 people.
Photo: CNA
The amendments would require tenants of condominiums built before June 29, 1995, that have been deemed a safety hazard to set up a management committee or appoint a building manager.
Housing advocates said that simply mandating the establishment of committees and punishing residents that do not comply would not be enough to protect tenants.
“The most crucial thing is that the government also needs to offer consultations and incentives to tenants in unsafe buildings. In addition, the management committee and local government officials should be given greater authority in matters of public safety and fire safety,” Housing Movement spokesman Peng Yang-kai (彭揚凱) said, adding that the government should offer carrots as well as wielding a stick to address aging structures.
Land Administration Agent Association honorary chairman Lin Wang-gen (林旺根) said the committee cannot accomplish much if it is not given greater power to address public safety problems.
“Management committees in buildings with public safety issues would be asked to address those issues first and report them to administrative agencies if they encounter defiant tenants. How can committees stop any contraventions if every tenant ignores the regulations?” Lin said.
The mandate should not only apply to tenants in apartment buildings with safety issues, but should include any who have yet to set up management committees, advocates said.
The Construction and Planning Agency said that the proposed amendment to Article 29 only applies to apartment buildings that local government officials deem to be safety hazards.
The amendment also stipulates that local governments should assist tenants in unsafe buildings to set up a committee, or contract a private organization to help tenants do so, the agency said.
A committee must regularly maintain building facilities and ensure that they meet public and fire safety standards, the agency added.
The agency has budgeted funding for the establishment of management committees in unsafe buildings as part of a national program to test whether structures across the nation are earthquake-resistant or need to be rebuilt or reinforced, it said, adding that subsidies would be distributed to local governments once the legislature approves the budget.
“We will announce the criteria to determine a hazardous building following discussions with local government officials,” the agency said. “Local government officials could expand the criteria should they deem it necessary.”
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