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Hsieh promises to take the rap

Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday reiterated his willingness to take full responsibility if any of his former co-workers at the Kaohsiung City Government made mistakes relating to the Kaohsiung MRT construction project during his mayoral term.

Hsieh's remarks came after a probe cleared him Friday of any misconduct in connection with the scandal-plagued project.

"The premier believes that this is a mistake, not a scandal," said Cabinet Secretary-General and Spokesman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), who was speaking on behalf of Hsieh yesterday. "A brave man admits to his own mistakes, and so will the premier, if there are any."

Cho said that the premier acknowledged the efforts of the Kaohsiung City Government's five-man investigation task force looking into the issue, and that he would respect the results of the investigation."

Problems first surfaced after Thai MRT construction workers' rioted in Kaohsiung in August. That incident led to questions about the awarding of contracts for the project, and the decision to adopt a build-operate-transfer model.

Hsieh then implied that many problems with the project were likely due to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator, Wu Den-yih's (吳敦義) negligence during his term as Kaohsiung mayor.

Wu fought back, saying that it was Hsieh's incorrect policy decisions that were likely the cause of the problems.

The bickering between the two former Kaohsiung mayors has carried on ever since.

The task force also cleared Wu of blame in its report.

Cho quoted Hsieh yesterday, as saying that he will do what is required of him if any of his former co-workers are found guilty of any mistakes linked to the project.

Cho added that the premier has so far only read a five-page summary of the results of the investigation instead of the full version.

According to his schedule, the premier was slated to visit Kaohsiung and Yunlin Counties this weekend to continue his "brief the public" tour, which was originally a protest move in response to opposition lawmakers blocking him from carrying out his administrative briefing on the legislative floor.

Cho said the premier was not planning to meet with acting Kaohsiung City Mayor Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭), who was the convener of the task force, to discuss details of the investigation's results.

As for Wu's complaints and his condemnation of the premier, Cho said that the premier is used to Wu's complaints.
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