YILAN (TVBS News) — The Tzu Chi Ancestral Temple in Dongshan Township, Yilan, was demolished by the Yilan government on Friday morning (Aug. 11) on the ground of violating the Regional Planning Act.
Devoted to Baosheng Dadi, a Deity of Medicine, the Tzu Chi Ancestral Temple has been a popular site attracting many templegoers. However, the temple's illegal construction of a new structure with a floor area of 5,700 square meters on agricultural land led to the county government's decision to dismantle it.
The construction of the new structure, which began in 2020, cost more than NT＄200 million. However, the government enforced the demolition on designated agricultural land. The government informed the temple to rectify the situation multiple times and set a deadline for rectification. The temple was also fined twice, with fines of NT＄600,000 for violating the Regional Planning Act.
However, the temple needed to comply with the requirements for improvement, ultimately leading the public authority to undertake the dismantling process using heavy machinery. The temple administration believes that the county government should provide an opportunity and guidance for the temple to rectify its situation and legalize its presence.
Pan Liang-yu, Director of the Yilan Economic Affairs Department, explained, "Based on an agreement from the temple, they should have taken the initiative for self-demolition by the end of January, but the temple administration ignored it."
However, due to the limited annual budget for demolishing illegal constructions, which stands at only 1.19 million NTD, the cost of destroying the Tzu Chi Ancestral Temple is within the available budget. The county government stated that they demolished the temple only to an unsuitable state.