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Just thought this was a very interesting story, wonder how many are lurking in our cities?
Japan orders high-rise evictions as construction scandal spreads
Last Updated Wed, 30 Nov 2005 15:24:03 EST
CBC News
The Japanese government has warned thousands of people that they have two weeks to get out of dozens of high-rises, saying it plans to demolish them as a construction scandal widens.
The uproar started in October, when a prominent architect admitted he cut costs by designing buildings that might not survive even a moderate earthquake â “ in one of the most quake-prone countries in the world.
Dozens of high-rise buildings in Tokyo and elsewhere have since been deemed unsafe, after revelations that property developers, contractors and others had falsified quake-resistance certificates.
Tokyo announced Wednesday that people living in the condominium towers had to leave by mid-December. Several hotels have already been closed and guests told to find rooms elsewhere.
The chief cabinet secretary, Shinzo Abe, called the situation very regrettable, but said the safety of those living in the affected buildings was the government's top priority.
"We have to ensure the safety of the residents ... so we will have to consider the idea of public assistance," Abe told a news conference. "The people living in these places are passing very uneasy days."
Abe said the government was preparing 2,200 living quarters, mostly in public housing complexes, for people who are being displaced.
A number of criminal investigations have begun and contractors, subcontractors, architects and local governments are pointing fingers at each other.
Japan's Construction Ministry said no one is free of blame, including its staff.
Parliamentary hearings are being held with developers called to testify.
They have denied that they conspired with the architect, Hidetsugu Aneha, to fake data in residential buildings and hotels.
Until the scandal broke, construction codes for earthquake safety were thought to have been taken very seriously in Japan.
The country weathers about one-fifth of the world's quakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
Building standards were made even more rigid after a quake killed more than 6,400 people in the western city of Kobe in 1995.
