http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/n...mier-urges.htm
Premier urges reform of redevelopment laws
The China Post--Premier Sean Chen (陳冲) told the media yesterday that he last year ordered the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) to re-examine the urban redevelopment regulations, when asked to comment on the eviction of the Wang family on Wednesday. The government has to achieve the goal of redevelopment, but the rights of our citizens should not be sacrificed, stated Chen.
The urban redevelopment regulations may be flawed or incomplete, but they have been amended several times since 1998, the premier said.
When developers discovered that redevelopment projects can be profitable, they invested a huge amount of time and money to study the law and the process. Thus, developers know much more about redevelopment regulations than residents, putting homeowners at a disadvantage, stated Chen.
The Taipei City Government had no choice but to enforce the eviction since the verdict of the highest administrative court was in favor of Leyoung (樂揚建設), the developer, Chen said.
Legislators yesterday passed a resolution demanding that the MOI send a draft of the amendments to the urban redevelopment regulations to the Legislative Yuan in six months.
Tough Decision: Hau
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) stated yesterday that it was a tough decision to enforce the demolition. The Taipei City Government had been trying to reach a consensus between the Wang family and Leyoung but failed, he said.
Eighteen meetings were held between the Wang family and Leyoung but no agreement was reached, said Hau.
Leyoung filed the case with the Taipei City Government more than two years ago and the government hoped the case could be solved via negotiations, according to Hau. Government officials have been working under tremendous pressure, he said.
The verdict of the highest administrative court came last August, and the Taipei City Government had no choice but to take action, Hau said.
The Taipei Urban Redevelopment Ordinance (台北都市更新自治條例) prescribed that 90 percent of residents — 10 percent higher than other cities' urban redevelopment regulations — need to agree for the Taipei City Government to enforce the demolition, stated Hau.
The Taipei City Urban Development Office was established last year to reduce the disparity of information between developers and residents to protect the rights of homeowners, according to Hau.
Hau said he will send the report of the Wang case to the MOI and has asked the ministry to hold meetings of experts to discuss revising urban redevelopment regulations.
Demonstrator Threatened to Cut Himself
One demonstrator, surnamed Wang, went to the demolition site with a knife yesterday, claiming that he wanted to cut himself. Wang stated that he was also a victim of the urban redevelopment regulations. He was later taken to a police station for questioning.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/n...ipei-halts.htm
Taipei halts two redevelopment projects amid public discontent
The China Post news staff--Taipei has jammed the brakes on two urban redevelopment projects requiring city government assistance to evict residents after the forced demolition of a family home in another case last week generated tremendous controversy.
Meanwhile the beleaguered Mayor Hau Lung-bin yesterday canceled a plan to attend a major economic forum in China, staying focused on damage-control efforts over the knocking down of the Wang family's home in Shilin to make way for a redevelopment project.
The city has been processing two other urban redevelopment applications by developers asking it take similar actions to that in Shilin.
But until the controversies surrounding the redevelopment law have been settled, the city will “re-study” all demolition applications, Taipei spokesman Chang Chi-chiang said.
The spokesman denied that the city has decided to suspend all urban redevelopment projects, saying each case is a unique situation and all the government can do is to continue to communicate with the residents.
He revealed that Hau chose to cancel his trip to Boao, China, in order to seek advice from experts and scholars over the redevelopment efforts.
But Deputy Mayor Ting Ting-yu will depart for Boao as scheduled, the spokesman said.
Chang said the mayor has already come up with a list of experts and scholars who have agreed to provide advice, but declined to identify any of them out of respect for their privacy.
Chang said Hau made the decision without receiving any pressure from the ruling Kuomintang, to which the mayor belongs.
Asked if the director of the city's urban redevelopment department, Lin Chung-chieh, would be sacked because of the Shilin row, Chang said the possibility was never considered.
The Wang family, accompanied by supporters, returned to the site where their home had stood three days after it was knocked down.
They broke the fences surrounding the site, and the family broke down into bitter tears when they found the home was gone. They also scuffled with police guarding the site.
Demands
Supporters demanded the city rebuild the Wangs' home on the same site, vowing that they would camp out there for a long-term fight.
Residents that have been spared the same fate as the Wang family for now because of the city's decision to suspend the demolition applications are from two communities near Taipei 101.
Some of the residents in the Yungchun and Wuxing communities said they feared for the worst when the city evicted the Wangs and knock down their home.
A family refusing to sell their second-floor apartment of a building slated for redevelopment said the developer moved in heavy machinery and tore down all stories above them.
Their building is half destructed and the developer has left all the debris around them, said Peng Lung-san, a Yungchun resident who has now become an anti-redevelopment activist.
Peng said redevelopment projects must be supported by the majority of the residents involved, but that does not mean that the minority's interests have to be sacrificed.
He said those who resist the developer's offers simply think that the project will infringe upon their rights.
The Wang family's ordeal has now turned the tide against developers.
Many developers said they thought the demolition of the Wang family home would be a demonstration of the city's determination to those who resist redevelopment, according to the United Evening News.
They have now been forced to put on hold all proposals, the paper said.
No Consensus
Lawmakers are now looking to revise the urban redevelopment law, but have yet to reach a consensus on how it should be amended.
Legislator Michael Chen from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party said developers should be prevented from offering pre-sales.
In the Shilin case, the developer already sold out all units of the project before settling the row with the Wangs.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu, who is also acting chairwoman of the DPP, expressed regret over what occurred in Shilin.
She said her city currently has no similar redevelopment projects, but said the existence of old communities should be respected as long as there is no immediate risk to public safety.
Vice President-elect Wu Den-yih said Mayor Hau made a correct decision to cancel his China trip in order to handle the consequences of the Shilin dispute. The city government meanwhile said it has meted out disciplinary actions for several police officers over the demolition action.
Two were penalized for trying to hamper reporters from covering the incident.
Several others were punished for making “improper comments” about the incident on Facebook.