Yesterday, a local court in southwest China's Chongqing Municipalityheld a press conference and revealed
the detailed compensation agreement between the developer and the
couple, whose house was demolished Monday night.
The husband and wife whose home and business were left marooned
on a spike of land in the middle of a construction site have agreed
to end their dispute with developers.
The couple will be compensated an additional 900,000 yuan
(US$115,385) for the loss of their business, the local court
revealed at a press conference on Tuesday.
The developer, Chongqing Zhirun Real Estate Co. Ltd., will
compensate Wu Ping and Yang Wu for 30 months of losses at a rate of
30,000 yuan (US$3,846) per month, said Yang Guang, an official with
Jiulongpo District Court.
The court, as an intermediary, mediated the dispute between the
couple and the developer on Monday afternoon. The final agreement
was reached at 4 PM on Monday.
The couple chose a new property as compensation, a similar sized
new commercial house in the Shapingba District in downtown
Chongqing. The new property is valued at 3.06 million yuan
(US$39,7000), while the couple's old home was valued 2.477 million
yuan (US$32,1700). The couple will pay the price difference.
In addition, the developer promised to compensate them for house
equipment fees totaling 2,222 yuan, moving fees of 20,000 yuan, and
decoration reparations of 100,000 yuan.
The additional compensation raises the total compensation
package to 3.5 million yuan (US$455,000) and will provide the
couple with 500,000 yuan after they finish with the purchasing
procedures for the new property, Yang said.
The couple did not show up at yesterday’s press conference, but
Yang said it’s the couple’s wishes not to contact the media, and
not a promise within the agreement. The court invited the couple to
the press conference but the couple said they were tired after such
a long dispute with the developer.?
Zhang Li, chief justice of Jiulongpo District Court, said the
dispute will have "far-reaching significance,” rather than a much
feared negative impact on the city's urban development.
"It shows that homeowners and developers should, in order to
build a harmonious society, always be considerate of each other and
seek proper settlement of disputes through negotiations," he said.
"Confrontation in any form will cause damage to both sides and to
society."
(China.org.cn by Wang Zhiyong April 4, 2007)