Residents in Kaohsiung and Tainan are accusing their municipal governments of not respecting them as land disputes heat up.
The News Lens
Date: 2016/09/08
By: ZiQing Low
Recent development projects that, according to critics, have been hastily pushed forward by the
Photo Credit：張馨云
Kaohsiung and Tainan city governments have many wondering if these two cities are still the “democratic strongholds” of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), The News Lens reports.
On Sept. 1, the Kaohsiung City Council forcibly demolished three houses around a wholesale fruit and vegetable market. The move called into question Kaohsiung’s status as a “Human Rights City,” a title the city received when it joined the People’s Movement for Human Rights Education (PDHRE) Human Rights City program in 2003.
The area around the market is prone to flooding, and TNL reports that the city council plans to convert the area into a new market that can prevent floods. However, one resident, surnamed Huang, whose family has lived there since the 1960s, told TNL that “the residents were never given the chance to voice their concerns over the demolitions.” [FULL STORY]
