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
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