Taipei Times
Date: Jul 19, 2017
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

The Ministry of the Interior has failed to follow through on promises to hold hearings on controversial expropriation projects, housing rights advocates said yesterday, demanding that the ministry call a hearing to force the Taoyuan City Government to clarify a road expansion project.

A handful of protesters gathered outside the ministry in Taipei, with residents affected by the expansion of Lungkang Road in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢) performing a skit in which hundreds of coins were poured into bottles, to represent the work, which they called “wasteful” and a “violation of human rights.”

“The ministry passed guidelines last year, but there has been no effort to pass them,” said Tien Chi-feng (田奇峰), a consultant for a residents’ self-help association, adding that the situation exemplified concerns about the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program.

“In this case, the size of the expansion is unnecessary, but it keeps getting reviewed and approved by the minister of the interior, demonstrating just how hard it is to cancel such projects once they get rolling,” he said.    [FULL  STORY]