TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Tainan City Mayor William Lai promised legal assistance for the residents of the Weiguan Jinlong apartment building, where 114 out of 116 quake victims died, possibly because of shoddy construction practices by the developer.
As a 6.4-magnitude tremor struck the area in the early morning of February 6, the building’s main towers toppled, burying more than 100 people. The rescue effort was concluded late Saturday.
The developer behind the project, Lin Ming-hui, was first found to have changed names several times, while other elements also pointed into poor quality work on the building. He was detained along with two architects, while investigators took measures to prevent the three moving assets out to evade paying eventual compensation.
The victims will receive legal assistance from the city government in their efforts to defend their rights, Lai said at a news conference closing the rescue campaign Saturday. He warned that it would not just be the builder who might face compensation demands.
A court approved a prosecutors’ request to seize NT$30 million (US$908,000) as a way to prevent liquidation before an official ruling on compensation, but the sum was certain to be raised, Lai said.
The most important work for the present and near future was to provide psychological assistance to the victim and to help them enforce their legal rights, the mayor said. Any decision on whether or not the apartment complex should be rebuilt was for much later, he replied to reporters’ queries. The city was also helping to find the victims new homes and to provide them with medical care.
The mayor said Tainan could not bear the cost of reconstruction on its own, and that it would communicate with the central government about its needs. He said he was hoping for direct, concrete and effective assistance.
Tainan mayor promises legal aid to quake victims
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