Residents of an apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) that toppled on Monday met with Sinsheng Construction Co yesterday to discuss compensation.
The building’s collapse — and the destabilization of a neighboring building — were linked to activity at a construction project.
Shortly after excavation work began at 9am at the construction site on Liuzhang Street, two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, with exterior tiles falling off.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Authorities ordered the buildings evacuated. No injuries were reported.
Measures were taken to stabilize the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, but the building at No. 184 on the other side of the construction project collapsed at 8:45pm on Monday.
Residents yesterday met with the company with city government officials at the site.
New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Chu Yang-chih (朱楊之) yesterday said that Sinsheng was willing to purchase or rebuild houses for those who lost theirs.
Sinsheng also offered a lump sum of NT$200,000 to the owners of the houses and NT$30,000 to people who were leasing units in the buildings to help pay for clothing and other items with the Lunar New Year period approaching, Chu said.
The New Taipei City Government would support the residents and owners and ensure their rights are protected, he said.
Public counsel would be provided, and the city would ensure that Sinsheng backed up its promises, he added.
Yesterday’s negotiations were preliminary and more details would be made available after a second round of talks, sources said.
Additional reporting by CNA
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit