The National Women’s League (NWL) on Sunday said it would respond once it receives formal notice of a lawsuit filed by authorities alleging it has failed to vacate or pay for continued use of its repossessed premises in Taipei.
The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee in May last year ordered the league’s charitable arm, the NWL Foundation for Social Welfare, to return the Mei Ling Building (美齡樓) in Taipei after determining that the land was an improperly sold national asset.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) had sold the land in Zhongzheng District (中正) to the foundation for NT$1.05 billion (US$35.3 million).
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
The league had immediately filed for an injunction to prevent the building being repossessed, which the Supreme Administrative Court in July last year overturned, ordering its immediate repossession.
The National Property Administration (NPA) then allegedly notified the foundation that it should pay NT$1.06 million per month for use of the property, which the foundation reportedly believed should be charged to the NWL.
An NPA official on Sunday said the agency’s Taipei branch had in January filed a civil suit at the Taipei District Court seeking NT$129.4 million from the league and foundation for the presumptive 10-year use of the property plus back pay for the past 10 months of “illegal occupation.”
The agency had to turn to the courts to decide who is to pay, as the NWL and its foundation could not come to a decision on their own, they added.
According to the NPA, the foundation owes NT$1.68 million for occupying the building from Aug. 26 to Oct. 13 last year.
After Oct. 14, the league and its foundation owed NT$1.06 million monthly for use of the premises, totaling NT$8.51 million for the past eight months, it added, and totaling NT$10.19 million for the previous 10 months.
Past use of the building, as well as NT$1.06 million monthly for 10 years, comes to a total of NT$129.4 million, in addition to court fees of NT$1.11 million.
However, the court has yet to set a date for the hearing, the official said.
League chairwoman Joanna Lei (雷倩) said the group has not yet received notice of the suit and would respond through its lawyers once confirmed.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) on Sunday accused the league of failing to heed its responsibility to realize historical justice.
The Mei Ling Building has already been determined to be an ill-gotten state asset and returned to the public, but the NWL is refusing to return it and has not paid for the right to occupy the premises, Lai said.
“If the NWL still has a sense of shame, it should vacate the building and find another place to work instead of continuing to occupy public property,” he said.
He also called on the NPA to “toughen up” and on the court to handle the matter as soon as possible, as the NT$1.06 million in monthly fees would compound quickly.
The Mei Ling Building stands in the heart of Taipei and, if returned to the government, could soon serve a better use, Lai added.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
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
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS