Residents oppose new hospital
- Source: Global Times
- [08:15 April 21 2011]
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By Xu Tianran
Residents of a community in Dongcheng district are protesting against a hospital building project that they say never sought their opinions and is too close to their building.
The 24-meter-tall Dongzhimen Sub-district Health Service Center is planned for construction adjacent to the Xinzhong Xijie No.3 building where the residents live. The distance between the apartment and the service center construction site is about 12 meters at its longest, and 3 meters at its closest, according to residents.
On December 28 last year, a foundation ceremony was held behind the No.3 building, according to apartment resident He Dianchen.
"On February 12, the sub-district office summoned us to collect a monthly noise compensation fee of 150 yuan [$22.98]. Only then did we learn they wanted to build a hospital so close," He said. "They didn't even bother to hold a public consultation."
Residents claim the health center is too close to their building, blocking sunlight and raising their risks of infection and privacy violations.
After appealing to the sub-district in vain, residents contacted vice district chief Mao Guifen, who asked the Dongzhimen sub-district office vice director surnamed Qin to investigate.
"Our job is only to convey the residents' opinions and give them replies," Qin said Wednesday.
She and her colleagues would not answer questions concerning the lack of a public consultation or the distance between the buildings Wednesday, saying that the questions were "too professional" and should be answered by the Dongcheng District Health Bureau, which could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
After meetings went nowhere, the residents began to hang protest banners on the No.3 building and scrawled slogans on the construction site in mid-March.
Peng Wei, a partner and lawyer with the Beijing Kangda Law Firm, opined that a public consultation was needed for the health center project.
"It involves the vital interests of the residents if it is a building with a special nature," Peng explained.
"The health center could be seen as a building with a special nature," he continued, adding that residents' concerns were reasonable.
The minimum distance between the long sides of two buildings with more than four floors typically should be over 18 meters, according to local regulations published in 1994.
