Bureau of High Speed Rail director-general Pang Chia-hua (龐家驊) said yesterday that the bureau is scheduled to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC, 台灣高鐵) toward the end of next month.
"The examination is scheduled to be carried out once every year and will cover various things," Pang said. "We will examine whether the company has been strictly adhering to relevant regulations, such as those related to transportation, environmental protection and labor standards."
Pang said the examination will potentially last at least a week. The company will be required to provide relevant information requested by the bureau.
Meanwhile, Pang said that THSRC has asked to brief the bureau about contracts with subcontractors -- particularly referring to the company's contract with MiTAC Inc (神通電腦), which was in charge of designing the bullet train's ticketing system.
The company previously said that they planned to start offering an online ticketing service by the end of this month. So far, however, the company has yet to say in definite terms when the service will be available to the public.
"We want to know why it took them so long to get it ready and if they [the company and Mitac] have changed the terms of their agreement," he said.
The announcement came yesterday, the day before THSRC was scheduled to hold its annual shareholders' meeting.
Pang said he did not know the agenda of the shareholders' meeting, except that the company would elect new members to the board.
However, he said officials from the bureau would be sent to participate in the shareholders' meeting.
This year, the press will not be allowed to enter the meeting hall and can only watch a telecast at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications press room.
The Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported last Sunday that Nita Ing (殷琪) was likely to be re-elected as the chairwoman of the company.
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