The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) used the eighth anniversary of the 921 earthquake yesterday to condemn former Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for ignoring the losses of former residents of the Tunghsing Building (東星大樓), which collapsed during the devastating quake.
The 12-story complex was the only building in the capital to collapse completely during the earthquake, killing 87 residents, injuring 105 and leaving more than 250 homeless. The Taipei City Government has since refused to admit responsibility for the building's collapse and has been fighting a legal battle with former residents over the past eight years.
"The former residents were harmed not only by the earthquake, but also by Ma Ying-jeou. He said he would stand by them, but the city government has continued to fight the lawsuit," DPP Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) told a press conference yesterday at the party's headquarters.
After the earthquake, former residents filed a lawsuit against the city's Bureau of Public Works for issuing an operating license for the building despite its substandard construction.
Taipei City District Court ruled in 2002 that the Taipei City Government must pay approximately NT$480 million to the former residents, but the city government appealed the decision.
Lin said as a local government, the city government should not fight against its own residents, and criticized Ma.
"Ma is incompetent, selfish and hypocritical. The Tunghsing Building case should not be a legal issue, and should have been solved quickly if Ma really did sympathize with the victims and intended to take care of the city's residents," he said.
Ma yesterday declined to comment on the issue, saying that the city government had resolved the case.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) on Thursday rebutted the DPP's accusations, and said the city government had settled out of court with the residents.
Hau said the city government would put aside NT$120 million to compensate the residents and the building would be reopened next April.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
‘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
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS