Print

Mail

wiki links

Toll-collection project takes heat

The nation's controversial electronic toll collection project came under fire again yesterday as lawmakers pointed fingers over the bidding process and voiced suspicions that the bidding process might have been tainted by an under-the-table deal.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) anticipates replacing the majority of manual toll collection stations with an electronic toll-collection system by 2006. The ministry expects to sign a contract for the project's completion as early as the end of next month.

However, legislators alleged yesterday that an under-the-table deal had resulted in the government's having chosen FarEastone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) and Austria's Efkon AG as winners in the project's bidding process, pending a final phase of testing.

Legislators making the charges focused on purported weaknesses in the the infrared technology that the FarEastone-Efkon partnership plans to use.

"The tests had better be stringent and test the system under all weather conditions. Infrared technology does not fare well in Taiwan's climate," said People First Party (PFP) Legislator Pang Chien-kuo (龐建國).

Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) won a bidding process for the project in 2001 but the results of that bidding process were later nullified due to accusations of unfairness. Chunghwa also intended to implement infrared technology rather than microwave technology.

PFP Legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) said that the FarEastone-Efkon partnership had been awarded the contract, pending test results, despite not meeting the ministry's requirement that the system be 99.8 percent accurate.

"The 99.8 percent refers to the system's overall rate of accuracy. This includes not only the vehicle positioning system but also image capture [of license plates] as well," Lian Yueh (梁樾), the director of the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau director, said in response.

Lin Ling-san (林陵三), minister of transportation and communications, said yesterday that the bidding process had been conducted in accordance with legal requirements.

"FarEastone and Efkon must undergo several tests before actually being selected as the manufacturer. If they do not pass any of the tests, then further testing will be called off," Lin said.
This story has been viewed 2190 times.