A new deadline for the eviction of residents at Lo Sheng (Happy Life) Sanatorium, a leprosarium in Taipei County, sparked physical clashes between police officers and protesters yesterday.
The Taipei County Government has decided to give residents at the sanatorium until April 16 to move out.
Physical clashes broke out when protesters attempted to prevent the police from posting a notice announcing the new deadline yesterday.
PHOTO: LIN CHIH-CHING, TAIPEI TIMES
Three protesters were arrested.
The Lo Sheng Sanatorium was built in 1929 to house leprosy patients. Leprosy was at the time believed to be easily contagious and incurable, and patients were therefore quarantined for life.
Free movement for sufferers of leprosy has only been allowed since the 1950s.
In order to build a maintenance facility for the MRT system, government authorities have decided to move residents at the sanatorium to a newly built home nearby and demolish most of the buildings at Lo S?heng.
The decision has met with opposition from some Lo Sheng residents, leprosy rights activists and preservationists.
"Save Lo Sheng. It's not just about saving historic buildings ... it's also about respecting the basic human rights of a group of disadvantaged people," the Youth Alliance for Lo Sheng said in a press release.
Tuesday was the original deadline for eviction.
But after demonstrations in front of Premier Su Tseng-chang's (
Around 40 protesters, including human-rights activists, students, residents of Lo Sheng and their families, blocked the main gate as hundreds of police officers approached the facility this morning, said Lai Che-chun (
IDEA is an international organization protecting the rights of leprosy sufferers.
"The police couldn't get in through the main gate, so they sneaked through a back gate to post the mandatory eviction notice on the bulletin board," Lai said.
"They're like thieves! Only thieves go through backdoors!" A Lo Sheng resident cried.
Another clash broke out as protesters tore down the posted notice.
"We tore down the notice and when the police saw that, the SWAT team moved in and arrested people," said Soda Masoto, a Japanese student pursuing his doctorate in Taiwan.
Three protesters were arrested and one passed out during the clash, Lai said
Meanwhile, a group of leprosy patients yesterday presented a petition to the Legislative Yuan calling on lawmakers to speed up the passage of a statute providing for their needs.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Kuo Su-chun (
"Premier Su says the statute is stalled in the legislature. We want legislators to pass it as soon as possible," said Chan Ming-chou (
The self-help group, organized with the goal of preserving Lo Sheng Sanatorium, demanded that legislators make preserving the leprosarium one of the articles of the statute.
The current version of the statue only discusses compensation for the patients.
Legislators are divided over the statute, which aims at detailing measures that must be taken to compensate for the suffering of leprosy patients.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
Weather conditions across Taiwan are expected to remain stable today, but cloudy to rainy skies are expected from tomorrow onward due to increasing moisture in the atmosphere, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). Daytime highs today are expected to hit 25-27°C in western Taiwan and 22-24°C in the eastern counties of Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung, data on the CWA website indicated. After sunset, temperatures could drop to 16-17°C in most parts of Taiwan. For tomorrow, precipitation is likely in northern Taiwan as a cloud system moves in from China. Daytime temperatures are expected to hover around 25°C, the CWA said. Starting Monday, areas
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
Taiwan has recorded its first fatal case of Coxsackie B5 enterovirus in 10 years after a one-year-old boy from southern Taiwan died from complications early last month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. CDC spokesman Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told a news conference that the child initially developed a fever and respiratory symptoms before experiencing seizures and loss of consciousness. The boy was diagnosed with acute encephalitis and admitted to intensive care, but his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he passed away on the sixth day of illness, Lo said. This also marks Taiwan’s third enterovirus-related death this year and the first severe
RSS