Dreams of home ownership shattered in one of China’s biggest ‘rotten tail’ projects
Farmer paid 300,000 yuan but apartment is unfinished and developer has vanished
Hebei farmer Mr Liu’s dream of owning a modern apartment in Caofeidian has been shattered and there’s no sign he’ll get his money back.
Liu and his wife, both in their 60s, sat on small stools at the entrance to the headquarters of the Caofeidian Industrial Zone Management Committee on a Monday morning in mid-May, hoping officials would come out to resolve a dispute over an unfinished property compound.
The government has not helped us to get the money back nor taken efforts to resume construction
They were among a group of some 100 protesters who had bought apartments in the Blue Bay compound before the local government ordered a halt to construction two years ago.
“We will not go anywhere else and we will sit here until officials come out to give us a solution,” said Liu, who paid 300,000 yuan (HK$355,000) – a lifetime’s savings for a farmer – for his undelivered apartment.
Another protester, Ms Chen, complained: “The government has not helped us to get the money back nor taken efforts to resume construction.”