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Meeting fails to
resolve Dapu dispute
STRUGGLE CONTINUES: Supporters of four Dapu
families held up signs and took to the streets in a protest yesterday against
plans to demolish their houses
By Mo Yan-chih and Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff reporters
Supporters of the residents of
four families of Dapu Borough in Miaoli County¡¦s Jhunan Township hold up signs
and fill the streets in protest yesterday, which was the deadline for the homes
to be demolished.
Photo: Ho Tsung-han, Taipei Times
The long-running dispute over the Miaoli
County Government¡¦s plan to demolish four houses in Dapu (¤j®H) in the county¡¦s
Jhunan Township (¦Ë«n) for a controversial development project looks set to drag
on as a meeting called by Vice President Wu Den-yih (§d´°¸q) on the issue yesterday
ended inconclusively.
¡§There was no discussion whatsoever at the meeting as to whether the four houses
should remain or should be demolished,¡¨ Executive Yuan spokesperson Cheng Li-wun
(¾GÄR¤å) said after the meeting attended by Premier Jiang Yi-huah (¦¿©y¾ì) and Miaoli
County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (¼B¬FÂE), among others.
Since the Miaoli County Government is in charge of the project, Wu has told Liu
to ¡§handle the case properly¡¨ in line with the conclusion reached at
negotiations in 2010 and decisions made by the Ministry of the Interior¡¦s urban
planning review committee, Cheng said.
Asked whether these meant the four houses could be saved, Cheng said she could
not speak for the county government.
On Thursday, Wu called on the county government to postpone its demolition plans
and scheduled last night¡¦s meeting. It was thought that Wu would reverse the
decision made by the Ministry of the Interior¡¦s urban planning review committee
on April 24 last year to honor his pledge Wu made as premier in 2010 that the
houses would be preserved.
Later last night, Liu thanked the central government for its support and said
the plan to demolish the four houses remained unchanged.
The county government will follow the decision made at the urban planning review
committee to carry out the demolition plan, Liu said.
Disputes over the impending demolition of four houses in Dapu escalated after
the four households received new demolition orders from the county government
last month, asking them to tear down their own homes by yesterday.
While supporters of the four families held up signs and took to the streets in
Dapu in a protest yesterday against the demolition plans, at a separate setting
Jiang said that the government had not planned to demolish the houses to make
way for a science park project, insisting that it instructed the county
government to handle the issue in accordance with the committee¡¦s decision.
Citing the committee decision, Jiang said that at least three of the four
households will not face immediate demolition of their homes, and that the
government would continue negotiating with the residents to resolve the dispute.
According to the minutes of the committee¡¦s meeting in April last year, the home
of local resident Ko Cheng-fu (¬_¦¨ºÖ) is to be demolished, as its joint owner Kuo
Su-li (³¢²Q²ú) approved the demolition and has accepted compensation from the
county. Unless Ko and Kuo can reach a consensus on the issue, the county
government will demolish the building.
A house owned by Huang Fu-ji (¶ÀºÖ°O) will not be demolished, as the county
government said only changes to its walls were necessary.
The committee said part of the remaining two houses, belonging to Peng Hsiu-chun
(´^¨q¬K) and Chu Su (¦¶¾ð), are located on planned roads for the science park, but
the county government agreed to ¡§keep the houses on the site temporarily¡¨ and
set up traffic control measures before construction of the roads began.
The conclusion failed to resolve the dispute, as local authorities have insisted
on tearing down the two houses because the buildings would obstruct traffic, and
the houses may need to be demolished when road construction starts.
Jiang said that if the county government planned to open roads in the area,
¡§decisions will be made at another time,¡¨ while insisting that the Executive
Yuan will continue communicating with the county government and the residents
over the issue.
¡§The Executive Yuan has maintained the same stance on the issue, which is for
the county government to handle it according to the committee¡¦s decision. There
are no changes or U-turns of government policy and there will be no immediate
demolition of any houses because of the decision,¡¨ he said at a meeting at the
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) headquarters in Taipei.
Wu yesterday said the government will resolve the dispute and accused local
media of distorting his words.
¡§I said three years ago that we hoped all the houses could be left intact on the
site, but I also said the government will compensate families whose houses must
be demolished ... Some media coverage has failed to present the whole truth,¡¨ he
said.
Meanwhile, responding to yesterday¡¦s inconclusive meeting, the Taiwan Rural
Front (TRF) accused the government of being ¡§irresponsible¡¨ and ¡§dysfunctional.¡¨
TRF researcher Chen Ping-hsuan (³¯¥°a) said that although the Executive Yuan had
urged the county government to act according to the results of previous
negotiations and regional planning meetings, this was not straightforward.
¡§There were different conclusions at different meetings. Shouldn¡¦t you [the
central government] at least tell the county government which to follow?¡¨ he
asked.
He added that activists would not give up their resistance and would start
organizing 24-hour patrols near the four houses.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin
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