Unhappy with the government's continued ignorance of the appeal to save Losheng Sanatorium, the nation's only public sanatorium for leprosy patients, about a 100 students yesterday staged a protest in front of Premier Su Tseng-chang's (
Yesterday's protest was the second time in five days that the students, along with several leprosy patients, tried to appeal directly to the premier. They were unable to present their petition to the premier because of a heavy police presence.
"We wanted to ask for the Executive Yuan's intervention in the matter as the Taipei County Government has announced that it will go ahead with the demolition of [Losheng Sanatorium] on Tuesday and forcefully remove the remaining leprosy patients if they refuse to move out," said Flora Kuan, a student.
PHOTO: CNA
The county government plans to tear down the sanatorium to make way for the construction of a Mass Rapid Transit depot.
The campaign for the building's preservation has attracted an increasing number of activists over the past few years since a group of medical students banded together to help the patients organize an association to state their case.
In November 2005, the legislature passed an amendment to the Cultural Heritage Preservation Law (
"In light of these developments, the central government should intervene in this case by designating the sanatorium a temporary historic site and call a halt to the construction work, regardless of whether it has the approval of local governments," Kuan said.
The council also brought up a proposal to preserve 90 percent of the sanatorium.
"The Executive Yuan should put the council's proposal to a public debate and delay the demolition work until a conclusion on the proposal is reached," she said.
Cabinet Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (
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