With the Taipei City Government set to announce today its decision on whether to dissolve the contract it has with Taipei Dome contractor Farglory Group (遠雄集團), the conglomerate yesterday said it would comply with the city’s requirements on completing safety reviews.
Despite Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) saying that he and Farglory chairman Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄) did not reach a consensus during a private meeting in the middle of last month, Farglory spokesman Jacky Yang (楊舜欽) yesterday told reporters that the meeting was a turning point that aligned the goals of both sides — to complete the construction of the Dome complex.
Yang said Farglory had delivered a letter of consent to the city government, stating its willingness to comply with legal requirements to which the complex had been subject.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Yang said the conglomerate would complete ongoing reviews of the complex’s fire safety and readiness for emergency evacuation being performed by the Construction and Planning Agency’s Taiwan Architecture and Building Center.
It would apply for a construction license change with the city government and deliver requisite documents to the city’s Department of Urban Development and Department of Environmental Protection for review, he said.
Farglory would build fire compartments between the Dome and an adjacent department store capable of withstanding a fire for two hours, which is going beyond a legal requirement that stipulates such facilities should be able to withstand fire for one hour, Yang said.
Photo: CNA
Farglory would set up broadcasting systems, emergency lighting, automatic foam sprinklers, smoke dampers, electromagnetic wave enhancing systems and Wi-Fi hotspots to facilitate evacuation in case of an emergency, he said.
When asked if Farglory would comply with the city’s demand that it cut the complex’s capacity from 140,000 to 90,000, and reduce its commercial space by 5,000 ping (16,528.9m2) to facilitate evacuation, Yang said the group would respect the results of the center’s reviews.
“Farglory understands that the mayor cares a great deal about the Taipei Dome, so we are willing to make compromises,” he said, adding that he hoped the city would respond to the group with goodwill.
Taipei Deputy Mayor Teng Chia-chi (鄧家基) praised the conglomerate for acknowledging the importance of public safety and for agreeing to proceed with the build-operate-transfer project in accordance with the law.
When asked whether Farglory’s reluctance to cut the complex’s commercial space and capacity could be counted as concessions, he said that the city was glad to see any form of concession.
Teng did not give a definite answer to the distribution of authority over the seven safety reviews.
Yang said that all seven reviews had been transferred to the center at a request Chao proposed in July, but Teng said it is possible that relevant city government agencies would conduct a number of the reviews.
The decision on whether to dissolve the contract will be announced today, Teng said.
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