TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After a building tilted to one side, forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate, Kee Tai Properties faced new allegations as well as anger from officials Saturday (Sept. 9).
One building in the Taipei City neighborhood of Dazhi next to a Kee Tai construction site suddenly sank one floor Thursday (Sept. 7) evening, with at least six other buildings in the area sustaining damage. More than 400 residents were told to evacuate amid fears of more problems before they were offered temporary shelter at a social housing complex in the Nangang District.
Nearby Dominican International School decided to reopen after the weekend as the main buildings had not sustained any damage. Cracks had appeared in walls around the campus and on the floor of an athletics track Thursday, forcing the school to close Friday (Sept. 8).
After access to the area was restricted, allegations surfaced of similar issues at other Kee Tai building sites, while Taipei City Government officials expressed anger about company officials failing to show up to meetings.
Deputy Mayor Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) accused Kee Tai executives of shirking their responsibility after he was unable to reach the company’s CEO by phone to arrange a meeting in Dazhi Saturday, the Liberty Times reported. Compensation for the residents was one of the topics Lee said he had wanted to discuss.
The city government was also evaluating how to rebuild the damaged homes and how to help the people who had already bought apartments in the complex Kee Tai was building.
Allegations emerged that the company had been involved in practices designed to evade supervision. While any project digging deeper than 12 meters required a review, Kee Tai had reportedly stopped digging at 11.95 m, reports alleged.
Residents of the Neihu District alleged that another Kee Tai project in their neighborhood was responsible for damage to a sidewalk. The Taipei City Government said it had ordered the company to stop work there while experts would investigate what the cause of the damage was, per CNA.
