Yesterday, a local court in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality held 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)