'Nail house' in middle of road demolished
By Yang Jian |
December 2, 2012, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A HOUSE that had stood in the middle of a new road for more than a year was finally demolished yesterday morning in east China's Zhejiang Province, ending a long confrontation between the owner and the government over compensation.
The bizarre sight in Daxi Town in Wenling City made headlines worldwide after photographs were posted online.
Homes at the center of disputes like this, left standing while work proceeds around them, are known in China as "nail houses" because they stick out and are difficult to remove, like a particularly stubborn nail.
But this five-story nail house was finally torn down after owner Luo Baogen signed a demolition agreement with the local government on Friday and accepted the compensation offered.
Luo, 67, and his wife left before dawn yesterday, helped by relatives in the move. Their former home was bulldozed before 9am.
Local government offered 260,000 yuan (US$41,782) - 300 yuan per square meter - and 46 square meters of land nearby where Luo, who raises ducks, can build a new house, according to the demolition agreement.
"It was never our intention to live in a house in the middle of the road. Following the government's explanations, I finally decided to move," Luo told Xinhua News Agency yesterday.
Luo had initially refused the government's standard offer of compensation as he said the sum was less than half what his property was worth. He said he spent more than 600,000 yuan building the house in 2001 and renovated it several years ago.
While neighboring homes were leveled, the road was built around the intact home, leaving it as an island in a river of asphalt.
The road has yet to open.
In 2008, the Wenling government made plans to relocate about 459 households in Xiayangzhang to make way for a main road at the city's new railway station.
All other householders accepted the compensation deal on offer and moved out before construction started last year.
More than 400 families were relocated in Luo's neighborhood, said Lin Xufang, the publicity official of the township government.
Chinese web users dubbed Luo's home the toughest of all nail houses because of the length of time the stalemate had lasted before the bulldozers moved in.
Luo's home may have partly attained its toughest nail house status because power and water supplies were maintained.
In many other similar disputes owners are forced out after utility supplies are cut off.
The bizarre sight in Daxi Town in Wenling City made headlines worldwide after photographs were posted online.
Homes at the center of disputes like this, left standing while work proceeds around them, are known in China as "nail houses" because they stick out and are difficult to remove, like a particularly stubborn nail.
But this five-story nail house was finally torn down after owner Luo Baogen signed a demolition agreement with the local government on Friday and accepted the compensation offered.
Luo, 67, and his wife left before dawn yesterday, helped by relatives in the move. Their former home was bulldozed before 9am.
Local government offered 260,000 yuan (US$41,782) - 300 yuan per square meter - and 46 square meters of land nearby where Luo, who raises ducks, can build a new house, according to the demolition agreement.
"It was never our intention to live in a house in the middle of the road. Following the government's explanations, I finally decided to move," Luo told Xinhua News Agency yesterday.
Luo had initially refused the government's standard offer of compensation as he said the sum was less than half what his property was worth. He said he spent more than 600,000 yuan building the house in 2001 and renovated it several years ago.
While neighboring homes were leveled, the road was built around the intact home, leaving it as an island in a river of asphalt.
The road has yet to open.
In 2008, the Wenling government made plans to relocate about 459 households in Xiayangzhang to make way for a main road at the city's new railway station.
All other householders accepted the compensation deal on offer and moved out before construction started last year.
More than 400 families were relocated in Luo's neighborhood, said Lin Xufang, the publicity official of the township government.
Chinese web users dubbed Luo's home the toughest of all nail houses because of the length of time the stalemate had lasted before the bulldozers moved in.
Luo's home may have partly attained its toughest nail house status because power and water supplies were maintained.
In many other similar disputes owners are forced out after utility supplies are cut off.
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