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Daxing locals in dash for airport compensation cash
By Xie Wenting and Zhang Wen Source:Global Times Published: 2013-1-23 1:43:01
Newly built houses at Nangezhuang village, Daxing district, Monday. Photo: CFP
Wily villagers in Daxing district may soon reap the rewards of their schemes to wangle more compensation cash from construction of the capital's new airport.
Zhu Wenxin, an official with Beijing New Airport Construction Headquarters, said that the first phase of construction will begin in 2013, although no specific date has been mentioned, according to the Beijing Times Tuesday.
Plans were first announced for a possible new international airport in the district in April 2009, according to the People's Daily Online, but it was not officially approved by the State Council until the end of 2012.
This did not stop residents in villages like Nangezhuang, Dongzhuangying and Lixian from enlarging their homes, either by expanding outwards, or adding new stories, or even building whole new houses and villas.
Li Yonghui, spokesman with Daxing district government, told the Global Times Tuesday that the demolition, which will involve over 20 villages, has not yet begun.
"We've been inspecting these illegally built houses for several years to avoid people enlarging their homes to get more compensation," he said.
"Since the construction plan has not been officially announced yet, we are unable to answer specific questions now," Li Yonghui said.
In Dongzhuangying village, many of the homes are empty, and the whole place looks bleak in winter.
Zhao Shian, a security guard in Dongzhuangying, said that he enlarged his house from 100 square meters to around 300 square meters several years ago after hearing the news about the building of the new airport.
"When the news of the airport first spread years ago, nearly all the 1,000 or so households in Dongzhuangying extended their homes or built new ones," he said.
Zhao said that he overheard from other villagers that this time the compensation will be paid per head.
"I heard each person will get about 800,000 yuan ($128,560) and I have five people in my family," said Zhao.
He expects the new floors he built on his house to net him a tidy profit.
"I spent over 100,000 yuan to enlarge my home, and I expect to get over 300,000 yuan in compensation," said Zhao, who said he did not get planning permission for the work, and nor did most of the villagers.
Lü Jianxiang, from Nangezhuang village, said he had enlarged his house as far as the road, and it had not been demolished by the authorities.
"I expanded my home to over 500 square meters, adding over 200 square meters," said Lü, "lots of villagers enlarged their properties right up to the road, but no one demolished them."
Lü said that he used cheaper materials for the build, as it will only be demolished anyway. He hopes to get over 10,000 yuan per square meter, the same figure another resident, surnamed Li, from Yufa village hopes for.
"I think we should get more than 10,000 yuan for every square meter because of high commodity and housing prices," he said. His home measures over 400 square meters.
Li said that there have been patrol cars driving around using slogans and broadcasts to exhort residents not to build more homes in his village.
"This has had some effect. But it's not good to treat villagers too cruelly. It's understandable that villagers want to enlarge their property," said Li.
Whether villagers will receive their expected compensation or not is a rather gray area, said lawyer Zhao Jian, an expert in demolition cases.
"If the villagers built a new home or extended an existing one which did not have official approval from the local planning department, it is an illegal construction, and will not attract compensation," said Zhao Jian.
"In reality, they may get compensation which is equivalent to the cost of the building," he noted.
The airport is necessary to relieve pressure on Beijing Capital International Airport. It saw over 80 million passengers in 2012, China Aviation News reported on January 2. The new airport will be designed to handle at most 40 million passengers annually, according to Beijing's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).
Wily villagers in Daxing district may soon reap the rewards of their schemes to wangle more compensation cash from construction of the capital's new airport.
Zhu Wenxin, an official with Beijing New Airport Construction Headquarters, said that the first phase of construction will begin in 2013, although no specific date has been mentioned, according to the Beijing Times Tuesday.
Plans were first announced for a possible new international airport in the district in April 2009, according to the People's Daily Online, but it was not officially approved by the State Council until the end of 2012.
This did not stop residents in villages like Nangezhuang, Dongzhuangying and Lixian from enlarging their homes, either by expanding outwards, or adding new stories, or even building whole new houses and villas.
Li Yonghui, spokesman with Daxing district government, told the Global Times Tuesday that the demolition, which will involve over 20 villages, has not yet begun.
"We've been inspecting these illegally built houses for several years to avoid people enlarging their homes to get more compensation," he said.
"Since the construction plan has not been officially announced yet, we are unable to answer specific questions now," Li Yonghui said.
In Dongzhuangying village, many of the homes are empty, and the whole place looks bleak in winter.
Zhao Shian, a security guard in Dongzhuangying, said that he enlarged his house from 100 square meters to around 300 square meters several years ago after hearing the news about the building of the new airport.
"When the news of the airport first spread years ago, nearly all the 1,000 or so households in Dongzhuangying extended their homes or built new ones," he said.
Zhao said that he overheard from other villagers that this time the compensation will be paid per head.
"I heard each person will get about 800,000 yuan ($128,560) and I have five people in my family," said Zhao.
He expects the new floors he built on his house to net him a tidy profit.
"I spent over 100,000 yuan to enlarge my home, and I expect to get over 300,000 yuan in compensation," said Zhao, who said he did not get planning permission for the work, and nor did most of the villagers.
Lü Jianxiang, from Nangezhuang village, said he had enlarged his house as far as the road, and it had not been demolished by the authorities.
"I expanded my home to over 500 square meters, adding over 200 square meters," said Lü, "lots of villagers enlarged their properties right up to the road, but no one demolished them."
Lü said that he used cheaper materials for the build, as it will only be demolished anyway. He hopes to get over 10,000 yuan per square meter, the same figure another resident, surnamed Li, from Yufa village hopes for.
"I think we should get more than 10,000 yuan for every square meter because of high commodity and housing prices," he said. His home measures over 400 square meters.
Li said that there have been patrol cars driving around using slogans and broadcasts to exhort residents not to build more homes in his village.
"This has had some effect. But it's not good to treat villagers too cruelly. It's understandable that villagers want to enlarge their property," said Li.
Whether villagers will receive their expected compensation or not is a rather gray area, said lawyer Zhao Jian, an expert in demolition cases.
"If the villagers built a new home or extended an existing one which did not have official approval from the local planning department, it is an illegal construction, and will not attract compensation," said Zhao Jian.
"In reality, they may get compensation which is equivalent to the cost of the building," he noted.
The airport is necessary to relieve pressure on Beijing Capital International Airport. It saw over 80 million passengers in 2012, China Aviation News reported on January 2. The new airport will be designed to handle at most 40 million passengers annually, according to Beijing's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).
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