http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/l...New-Taipei.htm
New Taipei dismantling illegal construction to free public space
By Hans Chen ,The China Post
June 21, 2013, 12:04 am TWN
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- At 9 a.m. yesterday morning, the New Taipei City Public Works Department (新北市工務局) dismantlement team began tearing down illegal encirclements of public space at six luxury compounds in the city. Glass was smashed, marble arches and stone pillars were removed. The total area of sections slated for dismantlement amount to 1365 ping, said the United Evening News.
The six luxury compounds are “Nation and Century Mansion,” (國家世紀館) “National Tripod” (國鼎) “Paris 16th District” (巴黎16區) “Drawing Century” (畫世紀) “Power World” (權世界) “Super F1” (超級F1).
“Paris 16th District” has dismantled parts of the illegal construction itself, so its portion was finished by noontime, and all dismantling was scheduled to be completed by the end of Friday, according to the UEN. Four of the compounds set up scaffolding on Wednesday to comply with the order, said the report. Two hundred workers were mobilized, according to media reports.
The Public Works Department stated that it has called multiple meetings with the management and construction companies of the compounds in question, either individually or in groups, to ask them to resolve the situation along with the property owners, according to the Central News Agency.
However, the responsible parties did not comply with repeated entreaties, the Department said, and starting from last December the city government began to hand out penalties and deadlines for improvement, the CNA said. On March 26, the government sent orders for the compounds to dismantle the encirclements themselves, and none complied, said the report.
The illegal encirclement that were targeted had been under notice by the city department for an average of four years, according to the Apple Daily.
According to the department, the closed off areas should be “open space” （開放空間） designated for public rest and recreation. The construction companies applied for “zoning bonus,”（容積獎勵） which is a policy by the government to reward meritorious action with permission to build larger total areas over the same plot of land, by designating parts of their land as “open space,” said TVBS. However, the companies abused the “open space” they were supposed to provide, according to the station.
Yesterday morning, the Department reiterated that “open space” is a public asset and should not be hoarded for the enjoyment of a few, said the UEN.
As gates and glass curtains were torn down, some angry residents angrily declared that they were going to sue the construction companies, and some threw garlic from upper floors at the scene to show their dissatisfaction, according to TVBS. UEN reports passers-by mostly saying that the encirclements should have been dismantled long ago to return the space to the public.