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Proper demolition law needed

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-08 08:28

The authorities should enact a foolproof law to protect homeowners' property rights and prevent local governments from abusing their powers to demolish buildings illegally, says an article in Changjiang Daily. Excerpts:

The municipal government of Yangzhou in Zhejiang province decided to demolish two housing complexes in the name of "reconstructing the old city". But actually, it had already sold the two pieces of land to a real estate developer to build residential buildings.

According to the law, local governments can withdraw the land-use rights in advance only in greater public interest, and should follow the "compensation-before-withdrawal" procedure. But the Yangzhou municipal government intends to demolish the two buildings for commercial purposes rather than in public interest. The local authorities didn't solicit homeowners' opinion on demolition before taking the decision. Instead, they took an arbitrary decision and didn't mention compensation at all. What they did was against the rules.

Demolition efforts to make huge profits is not uncommon in Chinese cities because local governments depend heavily on the income from transfer of land-use rights. Repeated auction of land-use rights has pushed up land and house prices, too. Hence, the government should set up a sound legal system to protect people's property rights. It should clearly define "public interest", too, to prevent local authorities from abusing their powers.

(China Daily 04/08/2010 page9)