Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday said that the Taipei City Government would carry out the scandal-plagued Taipei Twin Towers project on its own instead of contracting it out to a property developer.
BES Engineering Corp (中華工程) lost its approval to work on the project because it failed to pay fees and submit required documents after being awarded the project last year, Hau said.
BES was the second contractor to be awarded the project only to lose it. The first-place bidder, a consortium led by Taipei Gateway International Development Co (太極雙星), withdrew after accusations of corruption in the bidding process.
Photo: Wu Liang-i, Taipei Times
Since the city government rejected the terms offered by a third bidder, it will take on the project on its own through the municipal Department of Rapid Transit.
The project calls for two new towers in the aging western part of Taipei that are intended to link railway and subway lines to bus terminals and serve as the hub for the MRT line to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, which is set to open late next year.
Designed with one 56-floor, 243m tower and a 76-floor, 322m tower, the buildings are expected to cost more than NT$60 billion (US$1.97 billion).
Calling the project important to the city’s development, Hau said that Taipei is eager to complete construction in the next five or six years.
The decision to hand it to municipal rapid transit authorities follows five failed bidding processes. Hau said the move would guarantee the quality of the towers’ construction.
Taipei City Government’s Department of Rapid Transit Systems Commissioner Tsai Hui-sheng (蔡輝昇) said his department has about NT$30 billion in a development fund and is open to the idea of letting investors join the project.
Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋), one of Taiwan’s leading property sales agencies, said that the decision by the city will be in the public interest, as such a large-scale project needs leadership from the government.
However, Taipei city councilors gave mixed responses, with pan-blue city councilors praising Hau for being responsible, while pan-green city councilors criticized the mayor.
Hau, who is to leave office in less than two months’ time, is in no position to make decision on a project that came with a price tag of NT$60 billion, they said.
Additional reporting by Wu Liang-yi
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from