Exactly 10 years after part of the Lincoln Mansions (林肯大郡) complex was destroyed during a typhoon, the community still sits in ruins with promises of help remaining unfulfilled.
It was 10 years ago today that heavy rain brought by Typhoon Winnie caused the retaining wall of the Lincoln Mansions complex in Sijhih (汐止), Taipei County, to collapse.
Twenty-eight residents were killed in the incident, as the collapsed wall released a torrent of mud and rocks that flattened their apartments and forced another 500 families to abandon their destroyed homes.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The survivors were just too scared to live in the complex after learning that it had been built on land at risk of subsidence.
"Time stopped at the moment of the tragedy 10 years ago at Lincoln Mansions," Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Joanna Lei (雷倩) told a press conference at the Legislative Yuan yesterday.
A black-and-white picture taken last month by former resident Chou Chi-chuan (周志全) shows a giant piece of rock filling the window of an apartment, with mud spread all over the floor.
In another picture, an inclined building stands on ground that has cracked open.
"These pictures were taken last month, not 10 years ago, but there's not much change," Chou said.
"The people who should have been held responsible for the tragedy are still free as birds, and the promises of help were never fulfilled," Chou said.
"The owner of the construction company, Li Chung-hsien (李宗賢), has yet to be sanctioned," said a former resident surnamed Lai who lost his wife in the accident.
Li, who obtained the construction permit illegally, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the first round of the case, Lai said.
However, the sentence was later changed to four years and "the case is still in appeal today," Lai said.
Li also reached a separate settlement out of court with residents in which he promised to "take care of mortgage issues for us, but never did," Lai said.
In addition, promises made by Democratic Progressive Party vice-presidential candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) when he was Taipei County commissioner and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) when he was running for the presidency in 1999 to "handle the issue as a special case" were never fulfilled, Chou said.
In the news conference, former residents asked the government to preserve the ruins of the community as an example of inappropriate development.
In addition, they also demanded that the government release a piece of land for them to reconstruct their community, and that the government set up standard operating procedures for similar disasters in the future.
Teng Min-chi (鄧民治), executive secretary of the county administration said the county would help the residents but did not offer any concrete promises.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
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
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as