《TAIPEI TIMES》 Mayor seeks legal help over tilting buildings

SCHOOL REOPENS: Dominican International School is to reopen to students tomorrow following a safety assessment, but its playground must be monitored

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

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The Taipei City Government has a team of lawyers ready to seek a court order to keep Kee Tai Properties （基泰建設）, which caused structural damage to buildings and the evacuation of 442 residents on Thursday, from divesting any land, Mayor Chiang Wan-an （蔣萬安） said yesterday.

Faulty foundations at a Kee Tai Properties construction site, at Dazhi Street, Lane 94 in Taipei’s Zhongshan District （中山）, had caused seven residential buildings to tilt, and made another building partially sink underground on Thursday night. Residents of the area were evacuated and temporarily sheltered in hotels.

When visiting the site yesterday morning, Chiang said the tilted buildings have regained stability after grout was filled into the excavated construction site.

He added that residents affected by the incident would be allowed to return in groups to retrieve items from their homes in the afternoon, while residents of nearby buildings are expected to be allowed to return to their homes either today or tomorrow.

As Kee Tai Properties did not send representatives to the site to negotiate yesterday, some residents were concerned that the company might transfer its property and file for bankruptcy, shedding liability for the damage.

Chiang said the city’s Department of Legal Affairs has a team of lawyers which would offer legal consultation to the affected residents, with the cost covered by the city government, and they would petition a provisional attachment of property against the construction company yesterday, to ensure the residents’ rights.

“I am now sternly informing Kee Tai Properties that the most important thing right now is to take up all the responsibility, to face the problem, and to properly handle needs and resettlement of affected residents,” he said.

Asked whether the company had intentionally avoided a structural review by only excavating to 11.95m deep, as excavations 12m or deeper require a structural review beforehand, Chiang said the city government would establish a task force to look into the case and review the regulations and the standard operational procedures.

Although Kee Tai Properties had agreed to join the city government in negotiating with residents at noon yesterday, did not send a representative, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Shu-chuan （李四川） said.

Lee said that he and the company’s secretary could not contact the general manager, as they had turned off their cellphone, and that if the company continues to avoid the problem then the city government would have to take legal action.

Prosecutors said yesterday that they have opened an investigation into Kee Tai Properties.

The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that the probe was prompted by a complaint filed by Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien （王世堅）, who said that Kee Tai violated construction and public safety laws.

Meanwhile, the Dominican International School, which is next to the construction site, would reopen to students tomorrow following a safety assessment, city officials said.

In a statement, the Taipei Government’s Department of Education said that while the school would reopen, its playground would be temporarily cordoned off as a precautionary measure due to structural damage.

The department said it has ordered Kee Tai to set up equipment to perform daily checks on the structural integrity of the school.

It added that officials would also visit the school in the morning and afternoon to monitor traffic.

Additional reporting by CNA

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES