Merchants Tower workers relocate as housing sit-in hits 6th day
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Dozens of elderly women sat in the lobby of China Merchants Tower in Beijing Monday for the sixth consecutive business day, protesting losses they suffered due to low compensation after their houses were torn down 5 years ago.
The door at the fifth floor of the tower, the headquarters of China Merchants Property De-velopment (CMPD) in Beijing, was closed Monday, and an anonymous staff member told the Global Times that some workers had gone to work in other offices, due to the protesting group downstairs.
The protesting women were residents living in the East Balizhuang and North Shilipu areas in Beijing's Chaoyang District.
Along with about 1,100 other families, the women lost their houses in October 2004 when demolition started in the area, now home to a complex of serviced apartments set to be finished this year.
The average price per square meter of the new apartments will be 29,500 yuan ($4321.52), according to data shown on www.house.focus.cn. Compensation of 3,300 yuan ($483) per square meter was given to residents in 2004 by the plot's previous developer.
"The nearby houses were sold around 6,000 yuan ($878) per square meter in 2004, and the low compensation makes it hard for us to buy any houses nearby," said 60-year-old Cao Shufang, who lived in East Balizhuang for 50 years. Now, she rents a room in Tongzhou, east of downtown.
Cao said her family received 587,146 yuan ($86,012) in total after her 133-square-meter house was demolished.
Liu Shufang, another protester, said Monday her family, which has lived in the area for generations, has now been renting a basement for several years. Her monthly income is about 1,000 yuan ($146), and the rental fee is 600 yuan ($87).
According to a file released by the Beijing Municipality Commission of Urban Planning in 2002, the area included 155,003-square-meters for 1,476 families to move back.
However, Cao said the families did not receive information about the plan when signing the demolition contract. "The developers only gave us the money as a one-off, regardless of our requirements, such as moving back or receiving more money to buy nearby houses," she said.
Feng Xueye, the CMPD representative who signed the demolition contract, told the Global Times in an SMS text message that, "My personal response, together with different levels of government offices, is that, [the protesters] make trouble out of nothing." He did not explain further.
"We have appealed to different government offices, but we are pushed here to negotiate with the developer. We have no choice but to wait here until they give me a definite reply," Cao said.
