Illegal basement project causes homes to collapse
Print Edition
A DEPUTY to the People’s Congress of Xuzhou, a city in Jiangsu Province, illegally built an 18-meter-deep basement at his residence in a historical siheyuan, or courtyard house, in Beijing, causing buildings to collapse and a road to cave in, the Beijing Morning Post reported.
The report quoted officials as saying that Li Baojun, who is also an executive of the Haiying Group, bought the west part of the siheyuan in April 2010.
The house has historical and cultural value, and should not have been adapted without the proper approval from cultural and urban planning authorities, the report said.
Li didn’t get a permit to build a basement, the Beijing Urban Planning Commission was cited as saying.
Officials from Xicheng District said they punished Li for illegal renovation last July and he promised to stop. But several months later, the renovation started again, the report said.
Several neighbors were quoted as saying they had reported Li to the authorities but nothing was done about it.
After the building collapsed and road caved in last Saturday, it was found that Li had dug down 18 meters to build a five-story basement, the report said.
According to Beijing TV news, four buildings collapsed and a huge pit appeared in front of the compound.
No one was injured but 15 families whose houses were damaged or felled had to be relocated, TV news reported.
The local community management office is paying for their accommodation.
The road reopened on Tuesday, but a bus route has been disrupted, it said.
“We haven’t met Li, but his brother talked to us about compensation, a community official was quoted as saying.
Tang Jinchao, general manager of an auto parts company owned by Haiying, said Li paid 3.8 million yuan (US$608,000) to the state-owned Shandong Heze Corporation Group for the renovation work, which was entrusted to go through the proper channels.
Li was unaware it had not, he said.
The lawmaker is cooperating with the authorities on the matter, Tang said.
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