Transportation officials signed a contract with Far Eastern Elec-tronic Toll Collection Co yesterday for the construction of an electronic toll collection (ETC) system that will be installed on certain freeways by 2006.
But Ministry of Transportation and Communications' Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau officials sought to keep the signing low-key by forgoing the customary signing ceremony.
The Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co, a joint venture of FarEastone Telecommunications Co and Austria's Efkon AG, was officially awarded the NT$10 billion build-operate-transfer project amid investigations into allegations of corruption.
According to media reports, sources within the Black Gold Investigation Center of the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office have said that several legislators, transportation officials and repre-sentatives of ETC providers who had participated in the project bid could be indicted.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (林陵三) has instructed the Department of Anti-Corruption to investigate an official surnamed Sung, an aide to a high-level transportation official, following reports that accused Sung of corruption.
The committee overseeing the bid found the testing of Far Eastern's ETC system to be satisfactory last Wednesday, paving the way for a contract to be signed. However, the committee's decision was followed by allegations that officials had lowered the standards required for the ETC system in order to accommodate the chosen provider.
Far Eastern's contract requires it introduce a single-lane toll collection system using infrared technology by 2006. A satellite-based vehicle positioning system is slated to be tested in 2008, and the entire system is expected to be in operation by July 2010.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner