With thousands of military officials and soldiers being transferred from Taipei’s Boai Special District (博愛特區), which has a high concentration of government buildings, to Dazhi (大直) to the Ministry of National Defense’s new headquarters, small business owners along Taoyuan Street, near the ministry’s current site, have expressed concerns over the impact the relocation will have on their livelihoods, as they expect a drop of between 10 and 20 percent in their daily income.
Taoyuan Street restaurant owners said that although there are restaurants and delicatessens at the military complex, many officials and soldiers frequent their stores on their way home or to work, while others place orders for deliveries to their offices.
Huang Chih-hao (黃志浩), who has run an optical store on Taoyuan Street since 1975, said the street thrived on its proximity to the ministry and the Presidential Office.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
“Thanks to the business from the ministry and the Presidential Office, the stores have undergone transformations from illegal structures to iron-sheet houses to standard store fronts,” he said.
Flour-based foods are the staple of the street, with restaurants selling beef noodle soup, noodle soup with shredded fried pork and vegetables, wontons and steamed buns along both sides of the street.
Huang said 16 of the 18 households living on the street own restaurants, of which the original Wang’s Beef Noodles (老王記牛肉麵), Chao’s Veggies and Pork Wontons (趙記菜肉餛飩) and Sanweihsiang Baozi (三味香包子) — all of which established between the 1950s and 1960s — are the most iconic and reputable.
Amid the plethora of restaurants is an old shoe repair shop set up by Wu Hsien-tsung (吳憲宗), 78, more than 60 years ago, when he was still an apprentice.
Wu said that back in those days, he used to fix leather shoes and military boots for high-ranking military officials, but younger officials have since stopped visiting his store.
Remembering the area in its prime, he said the quiet street would turn into a bustling “food court” every day at noon.
When asked what they thought of the ministry’s relocation, Wu said: “All I hope for is to make a living.”
“No matter which social stratum you come from, everybody needs to eat,” Huang said. “I believe in word-of-mouth marketing. I don’t think our legacy will fade away just like that.”
Meanwhile, residents in Jiantan Borough (劍潭) in Dazhi have voiced concerns about the new ministry’s edifice degrading their quality of life, saying that the soldiers’ dormitories, which directly face the community, could pose a threat to residents’ personal safety because soldiers come from mixed backgrounds.
Jiantan Borough Warden Pi Wu-liang (畢無量) said that although he had forwarded residents’ complaints to the ministry about its loudspeaker tests and construction on the new site in the early morning, the problems have persisted.
Pi said the officials’ dormitories, which are located on the west side of the military complex, are adjacent to a 40m-wide road and directly face a busy commercial district, with convenient access to MRT stations and bus stops.
In contrast, the soldiers’ dormitories, located on the east side, are overrun with tenants and share the cramped alleys with a residential area, he said, while also expressing worries over soldiers parking their vehicles or motorcycles in the already scarce parking spaces in the neighborhood.
Yuanshan New Town Autonomous Group chief executive Hu Tai-sheng (胡台生) said that officials and soldiers of the air force have sparked a furor among residents for occupying civilian parking spaces.
Ministry spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) on Saturday said in response to residents’ complaints that the ministry is sorry for the disturbance its construction work has caused its neighbors.
The ministry has met with nearby residents several times to listen to their opinions, and will consider their input, he added.
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