A cross-party legislative panel yesterday called on the state-run China Shipbuilding Corp (CSC) to crack down on employees linked to sloppy construction work at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Four members of the committee that is probing alleged corruption by fellow lawmakers undertook another fact-finding trip yesterday to the embattled company's headquarters in Kaohsiung.
China Shipbuilding is in charge of building the power plant's reactor pedestal, in which experts have found serious construction flaws.
Sisy Chen (陳文茜), an independent lawmaker and member of the ad-hoc panel, said the panel had to ask China Shipbuilding to supply more documents for their investigation, as the documents previously provided are of little use.
Chen, along with colleagues Lin Kuo-hua (林國華) of the DPP, Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) of the KMT and Huang Chung-yung (黃宗源) from the TSU, had a closed-door conversation with CSC Chairman Hsu Chiang (徐強).
In mid-June, TSU Legislator Su Ying-kwei (蘇盈貴) claimed that certain DPP lawmakers were involved in the scandal. Su said he could back up his charges with evidence contained in CSC documents.
Hsu, who took over the helm of the CSC on July 1, admitted that the firm is in need of sweeping reforms.
He added that the company's employees demonstrate a lack of competence in areas such as bidding, pricing, writing contracts and executing contractual obligations.
Chen urged Hsu to beef up efforts to weed out negligent officials, saying that the resignations of the CSC's former chairman and general manager was not enough.
The legislature set up a panel to look into the matter after three DPP lawmakers, Liang Mu-yang (
Chen said she hoped the new CSC chief would track down crooked employees and turn them over to law enforcement officers.
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Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
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